Year: 2013
Type: conference-paper
Abstract: In order to alleviate water flooding in cathode electrode of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), it is essential to understand the liquid water bahavior across porous media and design the optimum electrode structure for enhancing water drainage on cathode side. In this study, the liquid water transport in the cathode of an operating PEFC was visualized macro- and microscopically using optical techniques, and the effect of perforation structure of cathode gas diffusion layer (GDL) on the water removal and performance improvement was discussed. The perforated GDL was fabricated by electric discharge machining (EDM) and manual micro-drilling technique. It was found that the perforation holes machined by the micro-drilling promotes the liquid water discharge from the GDL and effectively reduces water accumulation in the cathode electrode, because the hydrophobic PTFE coating at the hole sidewall is not damaged.
Source: ECS Transactions
Institutions: Kyoto Institute of Technology, Tokyo Institute of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Field: Engineering
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
OpenAlex ID: W1966015360