Biomimetic auxiliary channels enhance oxygen delivery and water removal in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Eric A. Chadwick, Pranay Shrestha, Harsharaj B. Parmar, Aimy Bazylak and Volker P. Schulz

Applied Energy, 2025, vol. 389, issue C, No S0306261925004908

Abstract: In this work, we present a novel laser-cut biomimetic flow field for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells that provides substantial electrochemical performance and liquid water management improvements due to auxiliary channels which offer additional pathways for reactant delivery and product removal. In particular, these auxiliary channels exploit Forchheimer's inertial effect, driving reactants to the catalyst layer (CL) – gas diffusion layer (GDL) interface, thereby reducing the oxygen transport resistance by 91 % and increasing the power density by 29 % compared to the baseline. The auxiliary channels drastically enhance water removal at the CL-GDL interface (observed via operando X-ray radiography) and enable high current density operation critical for heavy-duty operation. Laser-cutting also produces a 79 % reduction in GDL water saturation at high current densities compared to conventionally milled flow fields due to the trapezoidal configuration and hydrophilic channel walls of the laser cut flow field. Where most flow field designs targeted for enhanced water removal suffer from high pressure drops, our novel flow field is particularly attractive for realizing both enhanced reactant delivery and water management concurrently with an unprecedented reduction in pressure drop of 33 % compared to parallel channel flow fields. Furthermore, from a manufacturing perspective, the simplicity and elegance of this design is highly attractive for reducing the cost of next generation fuel cells.

Keywords: Biomimetic; Oxygen transport; Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells; Radiography; Flow fields (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261925004908
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:appene:v:389:y:2025:i:c:s0306261925004908

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/bibliographic
http://www.elsevier. ... 405891/bibliographic

DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.125760

Access Statistics for this article

Applied Energy is currently edited by J. Yan

More articles in Applied Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().