TY - JOUR
T1 - Characterization techniques for gas diffusion layers for proton exchange membrane fuel cells - A review
AU - Arvay, A.
AU - Yli-Rantala, E.
AU - Liu, C. H.
AU - Peng, Xihong
AU - Koski, P.
AU - Cindrella, L.
AU - Kauranen, P.
AU - Wilde, P. M.
AU - Mada Kannan, Arunachala
N1 - Funding Information:
AMK would like to thank Fulbright Specialist program, US Department of State as well as VTT, Finland for financial support for visiting Tampere University of Technology and VTT, respectively during fall 2011. Funding by Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation TEKES is also acknowledged.
PY - 2012/9/1
Y1 - 2012/9/1
N2 - The gas diffusion layer (GDL) in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the functional components that provide a support structure for gas and water transport. The GDL plays a crucial role when the oxidant is air, especially when the fuel cell operates in the higher current density region. There has been an exponential growth in research and development because the PEMFC has the potential to become the future energy source for automotive applications. In order to serve in this capacity, the GDL requires due innovative analysis and characterization toward performance and durability. It is possible to achieve the optimum fuel cell performance only by understanding the characteristics of GDLs such as structure, pore size, porosity, gas permeability, wettability, thermal and electrical conductivities, surface morphology and water management. This review attempts to bring together the characterization techniques for the essential properties of the GDLs as handy tools for R&D institutions. Topics are categorized based on the ex-situ and in-situ characterization techniques of GDLs along with related modeling and simulation. Recently reported techniques used for accelerated durability evaluation of the GDLs are also consolidated within the ex-situ and in-situ methods.
AB - The gas diffusion layer (GDL) in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the functional components that provide a support structure for gas and water transport. The GDL plays a crucial role when the oxidant is air, especially when the fuel cell operates in the higher current density region. There has been an exponential growth in research and development because the PEMFC has the potential to become the future energy source for automotive applications. In order to serve in this capacity, the GDL requires due innovative analysis and characterization toward performance and durability. It is possible to achieve the optimum fuel cell performance only by understanding the characteristics of GDLs such as structure, pore size, porosity, gas permeability, wettability, thermal and electrical conductivities, surface morphology and water management. This review attempts to bring together the characterization techniques for the essential properties of the GDLs as handy tools for R&D institutions. Topics are categorized based on the ex-situ and in-situ characterization techniques of GDLs along with related modeling and simulation. Recently reported techniques used for accelerated durability evaluation of the GDLs are also consolidated within the ex-situ and in-situ methods.
KW - Conductivity
KW - Gas diffusion layer
KW - Gas permeability
KW - Porosity
KW - Proton exchange membrane fuel cell
KW - Water transport
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2012.04.026
DO - 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2012.04.026
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:84861014527
SN - 0378-7753
VL - 213
SP - 317
EP - 337
JO - Journal of Power Sources
JF - Journal of Power Sources
ER -