Numerical study of heterogeneous porosity in gas diffusion layers of high-temperature proton-exchange membrane fuel cells

The heterogeneously porous gas diffusion layers (GDLs) in high-temperature proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) have not yet been comprehensively investigated. In this work, homogeneous and heterogeneous porosity models are established, and the effects of porosity on the electrical conduc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of applied electrochemistry 2022-12, Vol.52 (12), p.1733-1746
Main Authors: Han, Xu, Liu, Pengwei, Fan, Shengliang, Liu, Yang, Jin, Zunlong
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Chemistry
Chemistry and Materials Science
Diffusion layers
Electrical resistivity
Electrochemistry
Fuel cells
Gaseous diffusion
Heterogeneity
High temperature
Industrial Chemistry/Chemical Engineering
Ohmic drop
Oxygen
Physical Chemistry
Porosity
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells
Protons
Research Article
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Summary:The heterogeneously porous gas diffusion layers (GDLs) in high-temperature proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) have not yet been comprehensively investigated. In this work, homogeneous and heterogeneous porosity models are established, and the effects of porosity on the electrical conductivity, oxygen distribution, diffusion flux, ohmic resistance, ohmic polarization, and cell performance of HT-PEMFCs are discussed. The results indicate that increasing the average degree of porosity can improve the oxygen concentration and the uniformity index of oxygen distribution in the catalytic layer. When the average porosity increases from 45 to 65%, the uniformity index increases from 80.21 to 91.93%. Porosity is inversely proportional to electrical conductivity and directly proportional to ohmic resistance. Discussions of the porosity heterogeneity reveal that the average porosity is the main factor affecting the cell performance. The optimal porosity of the GDL falls between 40% and 45%, and the gradient of porosity is small. Graphical abstract
ISSN:0021-891X
1572-8838
DOI:10.1007/s10800-022-01746-2