Single- and Double-Sided Coated Gas Diffusion Layers Used in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells: A Numerical Study

Isaac C. Okereke, Mohammed S. Ismail, Derek B. Ingham, Kevin Hughes (), Lin Ma and Mohamed Pourkashanian
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Isaac C. Okereke: Energy Institute, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RD, UK
Mohammed S. Ismail: School of Engineering, University of Hull, Hull HU6 7RX, UK
Derek B. Ingham: Energy Institute, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RD, UK
Kevin Hughes: Energy Institute, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RD, UK
Lin Ma: Energy Institute, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RD, UK
Mohamed Pourkashanian: Energy Institute, The University of Sheffield, Sheffield S3 7RD, UK

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 11, 1-16

Abstract: A new three-dimensional numerical model of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) with a single straight channel was developed to primarily investigate the important impact of the double-sided microporous layer (MPL) coating on the overall performance of the fuel cell and the distribution of the current and the oxygen concentration within the cathode gas diffusion layers (GDLs). Realistic experimentally estimated interfacial contact resistance values between the gas diffusion layer and each of the bipolar plates and the catalyst layer values were incorporated into the model, and parametric studies were performed. The results showed that the double-sided MPL coating could significantly improve the fuel cell performance by up to 30%. Additionally, it was shown that the neglect of the contact resistance between the MPL and the catalyst layer could overestimate the fuel cell performance by up to 6%. In addition, the results showed that the fuel cell performance and the distribution of the current and oxygen are more sensitive to the porosity of the MPL facing the bipolar plate than the porosity of the MPL facing the catalyst layer. All the above results are presented and critically discussed in detail.

Keywords: polymer electrolyte fuel cells; gas diffusion layers; microporous layer; double-sided coating; contact resistance; porosity (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: 2023
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