IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v194y2022icp596-603.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Property evolution of gas diffusion layer and performance shrink of fuel cell during operation

Author

Listed:
  • Yang, Yange
  • Li, Xiang
  • Chu, Tiankuo
  • Li, Bing
  • Zhang, Cunman

Abstract

The last decade has seen a renewed emphasis on proton exchange membrane fuel cells. As an essential component in proton exchange membrane fuel cells, gas diffusion layer assumes significant responsibility on water management, as well as on the performance and durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. However, researchers have not determined what is the relationship between gas diffusion layer characteristic evolution and the mass transport shrink in proton exchange membrane fuel cells during operation. The objective of this study is to investigate how the property of the gas diffusion layer evolves during cell operation and its relationship with the mass transport of the stack. The results showed that the hydrophilicity of the gas diffusion layer surface and bulk phase increased obviously after the endurance test. The loss of hydrophobic agents and the exposure of hydrophilic surfaces are mainly responsible for this phenomenon. In addition, the structural collapse severely damages the mechanical strength of the gas diffusion layer and thus hinders the electrical conductivity and mass transfer capability of the gas diffusion layer. Loss of hydrophobicity and mechanical strength cause a serious decline in the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

Suggested Citation

  • Yang, Yange & Li, Xiang & Chu, Tiankuo & Li, Bing & Zhang, Cunman, 2022. "Property evolution of gas diffusion layer and performance shrink of fuel cell during operation," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 596-603.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:194:y:2022:i:c:p:596-603
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2022.05.120
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148122007716
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2022.05.120?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cho, Junhyun & Park, Jaeman & Oh, Hwanyeong & Min, Kyoungdoug & Lee, Eunsook & Jyoung, Jy-Young, 2013. "Analysis of the transient response and durability characteristics of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with different micro-porous layer penetration thicknesses," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 300-309.
    2. Yang, Yange & Zhou, Xiangyang & Li, Bing & Zhang, Cunman, 2021. "Failure of cathode gas diffusion layer in 1 kW fuel cell stack under new European driving cycle," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 303(C).
    3. Chu, Tiankuo & Zhang, Ruofan & Wang, Yanbo & Ou, Mingyang & Xie, Meng & Shao, Hangyu & Yang, Daijun & Li, Bing & Ming, Pingwen & Zhang, Cunman, 2021. "Performance degradation and process engineering of the 10 kW proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 219(C).
    4. Arlt, Tobias & Klages, Merle & Messerschmidt, Matthias & Scholta, Joachim & Manke, Ingo, 2017. "Influence of artificially aged gas diffusion layers on the water management of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells analyzed with in-operando synchrotron imaging," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 502-511.
    5. Jung, Guo-Bin & Tzeng, Wei-Jen & Jao, Ting-Chu & Liu, Yu-Hsu & Yeh, Chia-Chen, 2013. "Investigation of porous carbon and carbon nanotube layer for proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 457-464.
    6. Jiao, Kui & Park, Jaewan & Li, Xianguo, 2010. "Experimental investigations on liquid water removal from the gas diffusion layer by reactant flow in a PEM fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(9), pages 2770-2777, September.
    7. Kui Jiao & Jin Xuan & Qing Du & Zhiming Bao & Biao Xie & Bowen Wang & Yan Zhao & Linhao Fan & Huizhi Wang & Zhongjun Hou & Sen Huo & Nigel P. Brandon & Yan Yin & Michael D. Guiver, 2021. "Designing the next generation of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells," Nature, Nature, vol. 595(7867), pages 361-369, July.
    8. Park, Jae Wan & Jiao, Kui & Li, Xianguo, 2010. "Numerical investigations on liquid water removal from the porous gas diffusion layer by reactant flow," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(7), pages 2180-2186, July.
    9. Wong, A.K.C. & Ge, N. & Shrestha, P. & Liu, H. & Fahy, K. & Bazylak, A., 2019. "Polytetrafluoroethylene content in standalone microporous layers: Tradeoff between membrane hydration and mass transport losses in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 549-560.
    10. Aldakheel, F. & Ismail, M.S. & Hughes, K.J. & Ingham, D.B. & Ma, L. & Pourkashanian, M. & Cumming, D. & Smith, R., 2020. "Gas permeability, wettability and morphology of gas diffusion layers before and after performing a realistic ex-situ compression test," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 1082-1091.
    11. Alrwashdeh, Saad S. & Markötter, Henning & Haußmann, Jan & Arlt, Tobias & Klages, Merle & Scholta, Joachim & Banhart, John & Manke, Ingo, 2016. "Investigation of water transport dynamics in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells based on high porous micro porous layers," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 161-165.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Xiaoqing & Yang, Jiapei & Ma, Xiao & Zhuge, Weilin & Shuai, Shijin, 2022. "Modelling and analysis on effects of penetration of microporous layer into gas diffusion layer in PEM fuel cells: Focusing on mass transport," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PA).
    2. Oh, Hwanyeong & Park, Jaeman & Min, Kyoungdoug & Lee, Eunsook & Jyoung, Jy-Young, 2015. "Effects of pore size gradient in the substrate of a gas diffusion layer on the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 186-193.
    3. Ye, Lingfeng & Qiu, Diankai & Peng, Linfa & Lai, Xinmin, 2022. "Microstructures and electrical conductivity properties of compressed gas diffusion layers using X-ray tomography," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 326(C).
    4. Qiu, Diankai & Janßen, Holger & Peng, Linfa & Irmscher, Philipp & Lai, Xinmin & Lehnert, Werner, 2018. "Electrical resistance and microstructure of typical gas diffusion layers for proton exchange membrane fuel cell under compression," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C), pages 127-137.
    5. Pourrahmani, Hossein & Van herle, Jan, 2022. "Water management of the proton exchange membrane fuel cells: Optimizing the effect of microstructural properties on the gas diffusion layer liquid removal," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(C).
    6. Soopee, Asif & Sasmito, Agus P. & Shamim, Tariq, 2019. "Water droplet dynamics in a dead-end anode proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 300-311.
    7. Zhao, Jian & Shahgaldi, Samaneh & Alaefour, Ibrahim & Xu, Qian & Li, Xianguo, 2018. "Gas permeability of catalyzed electrodes in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C), pages 203-210.
    8. Jiao, Kui & Bachman, John & Zhou, Yibo & Park, Jae Wan, 2014. "Effect of induced cross flow on flow pattern and performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 75-82.
    9. Lin, Chen & Yan, Xiaohui & Wei, Guanghua & Ke, Changchun & Shen, Shuiyun & Zhang, Junliang, 2019. "Optimization of configurations and cathode operating parameters on liquid-cooled proton exchange membrane fuel cell stacks by orthogonal method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    10. Chen, Xin & Zhang, Ying & Xu, Sheng & Dong, Fei, 2023. "Bibliometric analysis for research trends and hotspots in heat and mass transfer and its management of proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    11. Kong, Im Mo & Jung, Aeri & Kim, Young Sang & Kim, Min Soo, 2017. "Numerical investigation on double gas diffusion backing layer functionalized on water removal in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 478-487.
    12. Yan, Xiaohui & Lin, Chen & Zheng, Zhifeng & Chen, Junren & Wei, Guanghua & Zhang, Junliang, 2020. "Effect of clamping pressure on liquid-cooled PEMFC stack performance considering inhomogeneous gas diffusion layer compression," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    13. Pei, Pucheng & Chen, Huicui, 2014. "Main factors affecting the lifetime of Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells in vehicle applications: A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 60-75.
    14. Wu, Horng-Wen & Ku, Hui-Wen, 2011. "The optimal parameters estimation for rectangular cylinders installed transversely in the flow channel of PEMFC from a three-dimensional PEMFC model and the Taguchi method," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 4879-4890.
    15. Alaefour, Ibrahim & Karimi, G. & Jiao, Kui & Li, X., 2012. "Measurement of current distribution in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with various flow arrangements – A parametric study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 80-89.
    16. Li, Linjun & Wang, Shixue & Yue, Like & Wang, Guozhuo, 2019. "Cold-start method for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells based on locally heating the cathode," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(C).
    17. Pei, Pucheng & Li, Yuehua & Xu, Huachi & Wu, Ziyao, 2016. "A review on water fault diagnosis of PEMFC associated with the pressure drop," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 366-385.
    18. Wu, Horng-Wen, 2016. "A review of recent development: Transport and performance modeling of PEM fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 81-106.
    19. Baricci, Andrea & Mereu, Riccardo & Messaggi, Mirko & Zago, Matteo & Inzoli, Fabio & Casalegno, Andrea, 2017. "Application of computational fluid dynamics to the analysis of geometrical features in PEM fuel cells flow fields with the aid of impedance spectroscopy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 205(C), pages 670-682.
    20. Niu, Zhiqiang & Bao, Zhiming & Wu, Jingtian & Wang, Yun & Jiao, Kui, 2018. "Two-phase flow in the mixed-wettability gas diffusion layer of proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C), pages 443-450.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:194:y:2022:i:c:p:596-603. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.