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Gas permeability of catalyzed electrodes in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

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  • Zhao, Jian
  • Shahgaldi, Samaneh
  • Alaefour, Ibrahim
  • Xu, Qian
  • Li, Xianguo

Abstract

For polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, the importance of mass transport property, gas permeability, in gas diffusion layer (GDL) is widely recognized with less attention being paid to catalyzed electrode (GDL with a catalyst layer). In this study, the contribution of the catalyst layer to the overall gas permeability of the electrode is experimentally investigated for different catalysts with a range of Pt loadings at various temperatures for air, oxygen and nitrogen gases. Results indicate that the gas permeability of the GDLs can be reduced by 58–77% with the presence of a catalyst layer. For the constant Pt loadings, the electrodes with higher Pt/C ratios (e.g., 60% Pt/C) show larger gas permeability than those with lower ratios (e.g., 30% Pt/C) due to their smaller thicknesses and higher porosity. Similarly, for the electrodes with the same type of catalysts, the gas permeability is higher for lower Pt loadings. Further, the effective gas permeability of the catalyst layers alone is about two orders of magnitude smaller than that of the GDLs. Additionally, operating at higher temperatures slightly enhances the permeability. Oxygen gas has a higher permeability than air and nitrogen, but the differences are small. These results highlight the importance of catalyst layer, hence the Pt loadings and Pt/C ratios, in determining the mass transport throughout the entire electrode in PEM fuel cells.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:209:y:2018:i:c:p:203-210
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.10.087
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. García-Salaberri, Pablo A. & Sánchez-Ramos, Arturo, 2024. "Modeling of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with a hybrid continuum/discrete formulation at the rib/channel scale: Effect of relative humidity and temperature on performance and two-phase tra," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 367(C).
    2. Zhao, Jian & Li, Xianguo & Shum, Chris & McPhee, John, 2023. "Control-oriented computational fuel cell dynamics modeling – Model order reduction vs. computational speed," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 266(C).
    3. Li, Yuehua & Pei, Pucheng & Wu, Ziyao & Ren, Peng & Jia, Xiaoning & Chen, Dongfang & Huang, Shangwei, 2018. "Approaches to avoid flooding in association with pressure drop in proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 42-51.
    4. Zhao, Jian & Ozden, Adnan & Shahgaldi, Samaneh & Alaefour, Ibrahim E. & Li, Xianguo & Hamdullahpur, Feridun, 2018. "Effect of Pt loading and catalyst type on the pore structure of porous electrodes in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 69-76.
    5. Li, Yubai & Zhou, Zhifu & Liu, Xianglei & Wu, Wei-Tao, 2019. "Modeling of PEM fuel cell with thin MEA under low humidity operating condition," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 242(C), pages 1513-1527.
    6. Hou, Yuze & Deng, Hao & Pan, Fengwen & Chen, Wenmiao & Du, Qing & Jiao, Kui, 2019. "Pore-scale investigation of catalyst layer ingredient and structure effect in proton exchange membrane fuel cell," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 253(C), pages 1-1.
    7. Pan, Mingzhang & Li, Chao & Liao, Jinyang & Lei, Han & Pan, Chengjie & Meng, Xianpan & Huang, Haozhong, 2020. "Design and modeling of PEM fuel cell based on different flow fields," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    8. Shahgaldi, Samaneh & Alaefour, Ibrahim & Li, Xianguo, 2018. "Impact of manufacturing processes on proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 1022-1032.
    9. Shahgaldi, Samaneh & Ozden, Adnan & Li, Xianguo & Hamdullahpur, Feridun, 2020. "A scaled-up proton exchange membrane fuel cell with enhanced performance and durability," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 268(C).
    10. Yazhou Chen & Sheng Li & Jie Peng & Weilin Zhuge & Yangjun Zhang, 2023. "Numerical Simulation of the Cold-Start Process of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(16), pages 1-23, August.

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