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Research Article | Online first | Published: 21 March 2024

The influence of patterned microporous layer on the proton exchange membrane fuel cell performances

Show Author's Information Shunzhong Wang1,2,  Kadi Hu3,  Wei Chen2,  Yali Cao2,  Linan Wang2,  Zhichang Wang2,  Lirui Cui2,  Mingzheng Zhou2,  Wei Zhu1,4,  Hui Li3( ),  Zhongbin Zhuang1,3,4( )
State Key Lab of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
State Power Investment Corporation Hydrogen Energy Company, Ltd., Beijing 102600, China
Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Environmental Catalysis, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Keywords:
water reduction, humidity, proton exchange membrane fuel cell, mass transport, patterned, microporous layer
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Wang S, Hu K, Chen W, et al. The influence of patterned microporous layer on the proton exchange membrane fuel cell performances. Nano Research, 2024, https://doi.org/10.1007/s12274-024-6569-5
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Abstract Full text Electronic supplementary material About this article

The ordered membrane electrode assembly (MEA) has gained much attention because of its potential in improving mass transfer. Here, a comprehensive study was conducted on the influence of the patterned microporous layer (MPL) on the proton exchange membrane fuel cell performances. When patterned MPL is employed, grooves are generated between the catalyst layer and the gas diffusion layer. It is found that the grooves do not increase the contact resistance, and it is beneficial for water retention. When the MEA works under low humidity scenarios, the MEA with patterned MPL illustrated higher performance, due to the reduced inner resistance caused by improved water retention, leading to increased ionic conductivity. However, when the humidity is higher than 80% or working under high current density, the generated water accumulated in the grooves and hindered the oxygen mass transport, leading to a reduced MEA performance.


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About this article

The influence of patterned microporous layer on the proton exchange membrane fuel cell performances

Show Author's information Shunzhong Wang1,2, Kadi Hu3, Wei Chen2, Yali Cao2, Linan Wang2, Zhichang Wang2, Lirui Cui2, Mingzheng Zhou2, Wei Zhu1,4, Hui Li3( ), Zhongbin Zhuang1,3,4( )
State Key Lab of Organic-Inorganic Composites, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
State Power Investment Corporation Hydrogen Energy Company, Ltd., Beijing 102600, China
Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Beijing Key Laboratory of Energy Environmental Catalysis, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China

Abstract

The ordered membrane electrode assembly (MEA) has gained much attention because of its potential in improving mass transfer. Here, a comprehensive study was conducted on the influence of the patterned microporous layer (MPL) on the proton exchange membrane fuel cell performances. When patterned MPL is employed, grooves are generated between the catalyst layer and the gas diffusion layer. It is found that the grooves do not increase the contact resistance, and it is beneficial for water retention. When the MEA works under low humidity scenarios, the MEA with patterned MPL illustrated higher performance, due to the reduced inner resistance caused by improved water retention, leading to increased ionic conductivity. However, when the humidity is higher than 80% or working under high current density, the generated water accumulated in the grooves and hindered the oxygen mass transport, leading to a reduced MEA performance.

Keywords: water reduction, humidity, proton exchange membrane fuel cell, mass transport, patterned, microporous layer

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Acknowledgements

Publication history

Received: 13 January 2024
Revised: 07 February 2024
Accepted: 13 February 2024
Published: 21 March 2024

Copyright

© Tsinghua University Press 2024

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Beijing Natural Science Foundation (No. Z210016).

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