Structure Design for Ultrahigh Power Density Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

Abstract

Next-generation ultrahigh power density proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells rely not only on high-performance membrane electrode assembly (MEA) but also on an optimal cell structure. To this end, we comprehensively investigate the cell performance under various structures, and it is revealed that there is unexploited performance improvement in structure design because its positive effect enhancing gas supply is often inhibited by worse proton/electron conduction. Utilizing fine channel/rib or the porous flow field is feasible to eliminate the gas diffusion layer (GDL) and hence increase the power density significantly due to the decrease in cell thickness and gas/electron transfer resistances. The cell structure combining fine channel/rib, GDL elimination and double-cell structure is believed to increase the power density from 4.4 to 6.52 kW L^-1 with the existing MEA, showing nearly equal importance with the new MEA development in achieving the target of 9.0 kW L ^-1.

Keywords: Proton exchange membrane fuel cell, cell structure design, power density, integrated BP-GDL structure, flow field