A Review on the Long-Term Performance of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: From Degradation Modeling to the Effects of Bipolar Plates, Sealings, and Contaminants

Hossein Pourrahmani, Majid Siavashi, Adel Yavarinasab, Mardit Matian, Nazanin Chitgar, Ligang Wang and Jan Van herle
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Hossein Pourrahmani: Group of Energy Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, 1951 Sion, Switzerland
Majid Siavashi: Applied Multi-Phase Fluid Dynamic Laboratory, School of Mechanical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran 13114-16846, Iran
Adel Yavarinasab: School of Biomedical Engineering, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada
Mardit Matian: EH Group, Chemin de Vuarpillière 27, 1260 Nyon, Switzerland
Nazanin Chitgar: Advanced Water Research Laboratory (AWRL), University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 1H9, Canada
Ligang Wang: Institute of Energy Power Innovation, North China Electric Power University, Beijing 102206, China
Jan Van herle: Group of Energy Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne, 1951 Sion, Switzerland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-30

Abstract: Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are regarded as promising alternatives to internal combustion engines (ICEs) to reduce pollution. Recent research on PEMFCs focuses on achieving higher power densities, reducing the refueling time, mitigating the final price, and decreasing the degradations, to facilitate the commercialization of hydrogen mobility. The design of bipolar plates and compression kits, in addition to their coating, can effectively improve performance, increase durability, and support water/thermal management. Past reviews usually focused on the specific aspect, which can hardly provide readers with a complete picture of the key challenges facing and advances in the long-term performance of PEMFCs. This paper aims to deliver a comprehensive source to review, from both experimental, analytical and numerical viewpoints, design challenges, degradation modeling, protective coatings for bipolar plates, and key operational challenges facing and solutions to the stack to prevent contamination. The significant research gaps in the long-term performance of PEMFCs are identified as (1) improved bipolar-plate design and coating, (2) the optimization of the design of sealing and compression kits to reduce mechanical stresses, and (3) stack degradation regarding fuel contamination and dynamic operation.

Keywords: proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC); degradation modeling; bipolar plates; sealing; contamination (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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