IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v9y2016i8p603-d75020.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Recent Progress on the Key Materials and Components for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells in Vehicle Applications

Author

Listed:
  • Cheng Wang

    (Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
    State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Shubo Wang

    (Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Linfa Peng

    (State Key Laboratory of Mechanical System and Vibration, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China)

  • Junliang Zhang

    (School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China)

  • Zhigang Shao

    (Fuel Cell System and Engineering Laboratory, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, Liaoning, China)

  • Jun Huang

    (State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Chunwen Sun

    (Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100083, China)

  • Minggao Ouyang

    (State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

  • Xiangming He

    (Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China
    State Key Laboratory of Automotive Safety and Energy, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)

Abstract

Fuel cells are the most clean and efficient power source for vehicles. In particular, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are the most promising candidate for automobile applications due to their rapid start-up and low-temperature operation. Through extensive global research efforts in the latest decade, the performance of PEMFCs, including energy efficiency, volumetric and mass power density, and low temperature startup ability, have achieved significant breakthroughs. In 2014, fuel cell powered vehicles were introduced into the market by several prominent vehicle companies. However, the low durability and high cost of PEMFC systems are still the main obstacles for large-scale industrialization of this technology. The key materials and components used in PEMFCs greatly affect their durability and cost. In this review, the technical progress of key materials and components for PEMFCs has been summarized and critically discussed, including topics such as the membrane, catalyst layer, gas diffusion layer, and bipolar plate. The development of high-durability processing technologies is also introduced. Finally, this review is concluded with personal perspectives on the future research directions of this area.

Suggested Citation

  • Cheng Wang & Shubo Wang & Linfa Peng & Junliang Zhang & Zhigang Shao & Jun Huang & Chunwen Sun & Minggao Ouyang & Xiangming He, 2016. "Recent Progress on the Key Materials and Components for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells in Vehicle Applications," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(8), pages 1-39, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:8:p:603-:d:75020
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/8/603/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/9/8/603/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mark K. Debe, 2012. "Electrocatalyst approaches and challenges for automotive fuel cells," Nature, Nature, vol. 486(7401), pages 43-51, June.
    2. Roshandel, Ramin & Ahmadi, Farzad, 2013. "Effects of catalyst loading gradient in catalyst layers on performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 921-931.
    3. Ok-Hee Kim & Yong-Hun Cho & Soon Hyung Kang & Hee-Young Park & Minhyoung Kim & Ju Wan Lim & Dong Young Chung & Myeong Jae Lee & Heeman Choe & Yung-Eun Sung, 2013. "Ordered macroporous platinum electrode and enhanced mass transfer in fuel cells using inverse opal structure," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 4(1), pages 1-9, December.
    4. Sang Hoon Joo & Seong Jae Choi & Ilwhan Oh & Juhyoun Kwak & Zheng Liu & Osamu Terasaki & Ryong Ryoo, 2001. "Correction: Ordered nanoporous arrays of carbon supporting high dispersions of platinum nanoparticles," Nature, Nature, vol. 414(6862), pages 470-470, November.
    5. Yuan, Wei & Tang, Yong & Yang, Xiaojun & Wan, Zhenping, 2012. "Porous metal materials for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells – A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 309-329.
    6. Hou, Yongping & Yang, Zhihua & Fang, Xue, 2011. "An experimental study on the dynamic process of PEM fuel cell stack voltage," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 325-329.
    7. Shinji Inagaki & Shiyou Guan & Tetsu Ohsuna & Osamu Terasaki, 2002. "An ordered mesoporous organosilica hybrid material with a crystal-like wall structure," Nature, Nature, vol. 416(6878), pages 304-307, March.
    8. Unknown, 2004. "End Materials," Choices: The Magazine of Food, Farm, and Resource Issues, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 19(4), pages 1-1.
    9. Sang Hoon Joo & Seong Jae Choi & Ilwhan Oh & Juhyoun Kwak & Zheng Liu & Osamu Terasaki & Ryong Ryoo, 2001. "Ordered nanoporous arrays of carbon supporting high dispersions of platinum nanoparticles," Nature, Nature, vol. 412(6843), pages 169-172, July.
    10. Fofana, Daouda & Natarajan, Sadesh Kumar & Hamelin, Jean & Benard, Pierre, 2014. "Low platinum, high limiting current density of the PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell) based on multilayer cathode catalyst approach," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 398-403.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Alessandro Arrigoni & Valeria Arosio & Andrea Basso Peressut & Saverio Latorrata & Giovanni Dotelli, 2022. "Greenhouse Gas Implications of Extending the Service Life of PEM Fuel Cells for Automotive Applications: A Life Cycle Assessment," Clean Technol., MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-17, February.
    2. Julian Büsselmann & Maren Rastedt & Tomas Klicpera & Karsten Reinwald & Henrike Schmies & Alexander Dyck & Peter Wagner, 2020. "Analysis of HT-PEM MEAs’ Long-Term Stabilities," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-16, January.
    3. Alisa Kozhushner & Qing Li & Lior Elbaz, 2023. "Heteroatom-Doped Carbon Supports with Enhanced Corrosion Resistance in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-15, April.
    4. Saverio Latorrata & Paola Gallo Stampino & Cinzia Cristiani & Giovanni Dotelli, 2017. "Performance Evaluation and Durability Enhancement of FEP-Based Gas Diffusion Media for PEM Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-17, December.
    5. Jin Hyun Kim & Gwang Goo Lee & Woo Tae Kim, 2017. "Comparison of Liquid Water Dynamics in Bent Gas Channels of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell with Different Channel Cross Sections in a Channel Flooding Situation," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, May.
    6. Jin Hyun Kim & Woo Tae Kim, 2018. "Numerical Investigation of Gas-Liquid Two-Phase Flow inside PEMFC Gas Channels with Rectangular and Trapezoidal Cross Sections," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(6), pages 1-18, May.
    7. Ming Peng & Enci Dong & Li Chen & Yu Wang & Wen-Quan Tao, 2022. "Effects of Cathode Gas Diffusion Layer Configuration on the Performance of Open Cathode Air-Cooled Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-21, August.
    8. Fu-Cheng Wang & Kuang-Ming Lin, 2018. "Impacts of Load Profiles on the Optimization of Power Management of a Green Building Employing Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-16, December.
    9. Devin Fowler & Vladimir Gurau & Daniel Cox, 2019. "Bridging the Gap between Automated Manufacturing of Fuel Cell Components and Robotic Assembly of Fuel Cell Stacks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(19), pages 1-14, September.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lo, An-Ya & Hung, Chin-Te & Yu, Ningya & Kuo, Cheng-Tzu & Liu, Shang-Bin, 2012. "Syntheses of carbon porous materials with varied pore sizes and their performances as catalyst supports during methanol oxidation reaction," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 66-74.
    2. Xia, Zhangxun & Sun, Ruili & Jing, Fenning & Wang, Suli & Sun, Hai & Sun, Gongquan, 2018. "Modeling and optimization of Scaffold-like macroporous electrodes for highly efficient direct methanol fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 239-248.
    3. Dong Jin Ham & Jae Sung Lee, 2009. "Transition Metal Carbides and Nitrides as Electrode Materials for Low Temperature Fuel Cells," Energies, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-27, October.
    4. Konwar, Lakhya Jyoti & Boro, Jutika & Deka, Dhanapati, 2014. "Review on latest developments in biodiesel production using carbon-based catalysts," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 546-564.
    5. Awin, Yussef & Dukhan, Nihad, 2019. "Experimental performance assessment of metal-foam flow fields for proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 252(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Huimin Zhang & Jingyi Qiu & Jie Pang & Gaoping Cao & Bingsen Zhang & Li Wang & Xiangming He & Xuning Feng & Shizhou Ma & Xinggao Zhang & Hai Ming & Zhuangnan Li & Feng Li & Hao Zhang, 2024. "Sub-millisecond lithiothermal synthesis of graphitic meso–microporous carbon," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-9, December.
    7. Wu, Horng-Wen, 2016. "A review of recent development: Transport and performance modeling of PEM fuel cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 165(C), pages 81-106.
    8. Hatayama, Hiroki & Daigo, Ichiro & Matsuno, Yasunari & Adachi, Yoshihiro, 2012. "Evolution of aluminum recycling initiated by the introduction of next-generation vehicles and scrap sorting technology," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 8-14.
    9. Lin, Rui & Zhong, Di & Lan, Shunbo & Guo, Rong & Ma, Yunyang & Cai, Xin, 2021. "Experimental validation for enhancement of PEMFC cold start performance: Based on the optimization of micro porous layer," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 300(C).
    10. Chen, Dongfang & Pan, Lyuming & Pei, Pucheng & Huang, Shangwei & Ren, Peng & Song, Xin, 2021. "Carbon-coated oxygen vacancies-rich Co3O4 nanoarrays grow on nickel foam as efficient bifunctional electrocatalysts for rechargeable zinc-air batteries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 224(C).
    11. Ashley Fly & Kyoungyoun Kim & John Gordon & Daniel Butcher & Rui Chen, 2019. "Liquid Water Transport in Porous Metal Foam Flow-Field Fuel Cells: A Two-Phase Numerical Modelling and Ex-Situ Experimental Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-14, March.
    12. Bae, Suk Joo & Kim, Seong-Joon & Lee, Jin-Hwa & Song, Inseob & Kim, Nam-In & Seo, Yongho & Kim, Ki Buem & Lee, Naesung & Park, Jun-Young, 2014. "Degradation pattern prediction of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell stack with series reliability structure via durability data of single cells," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 48-55.
    13. Kiyani, Roya & Rowshanzamir, Soosan & Parnian, Mohammad Javad, 2016. "Nitrogen doped graphene supported palladium-cobalt as a promising catalyst for methanol oxidation reaction: Synthesis, characterization and electrocatalytic performance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1162-1173.
    14. Song, Xingjuan & Zhang, Dongming, 2014. "Bimetallic Ag–Ni/C particles as cathode catalyst in AFCs (alkaline fuel cells)," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 223-230.
    15. Jung, Chi-Young & Yi, Jae-You & Yi, Sung-Chul, 2014. "On the role of the silica-containing catalyst layer for proton exchange membrane fuel cells," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 794-800.
    16. Yannan Yang & Shiwei Chen & Min Zhang & Yiru Shi & Jiangqi Luo & Yiming Huang & Zhengying Gu & Wenli Hu & Ye Zhang & Xiao He & Chengzhong Yu, 2024. "Mesoporous nanoperforators as membranolytic agents via nano- and molecular-scale multi-patterning," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 15(1), pages 1-15, December.
    17. Huang, Chung-Neng & Chen, Yui-Sung, 2017. "Design of magnetic flywheel control for performance improvement of fuel cells used in vehicles," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 840-852.
    18. Ismail, M.S. & Ingham, D.B. & Ma, L. & Hughes, K.J. & Pourkashanian, M., 2017. "Effects of catalyst agglomerate shape in polymer electrolyte fuel cells investigated by a multi-scale modelling framework," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 420-430.
    19. Wang, Qing & Han, Ning & Bokhari, Awais & Li, Xue & Cao, Yue & Asif, Saira & Shen, Zhengfeng & Si, Weimeng & Wang, Fagang & Klemeš, Jiří Jaromír & Zhao, Xiaolin, 2022. "Insights into MXenes-based electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 255(C).
    20. Chen, Daifen & Zeng, Qice & Su, Shichuan & Bi, Wuxi & Ren, Zhiqiang, 2013. "Geometric optimization of a 10-cell modular planar solid oxide fuel cell stack manifold," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 1100-1107.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:9:y:2016:i:8:p:603-:d:75020. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.