| Fuel cells, widely regarded as the 21st century energy-conversion devices, convert chemical energy directly into electricity with high energy density at low operating temperature, good performance operation, and high environment compatibility. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs), a kind of fuel cell that is considered in this study, are receiving much attention from energy-related researchers and industries world-wide due to its many promising applications in stationary power plants, automobile power systems, and portables power sources. However, the efficient operation of this type of fuel cell requires complex water management into the cathode gas diffusion media because one of its greatest performance/durability limitations is centered mainly on the liquid water transport essentially at the cathode porous media.;At the heart of PEMFCs is the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The MEA is sandwiched by two flow field plates that are often mirrored to make a bipolar plate when cells are stacked in series for greater voltages. The MEA consists of a proton exchange membrane (PEM), two catalyst layers (CLs), and two gas diffusion media (GDM). The cathode GDM, in which this study is focused, is a key component because of its central role in liquid water removal. |
