Green and Low-Cost Membrane Electrode Assembly for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells: Effect of Double-Layer Electrodes and Gas Diffusion Layer

A gas diffusion layer (GDL) is one of the essential components of a membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which is the core of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs).

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An analytical model for the transverse permeability of gas diffusion layer with electrical double layer effects in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

International Journal of Hydrogen Energy ◽

10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.07.186 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 43 (37) ◽

pp. 17880-17888 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

Mingchao Liang ◽

Yaming Liu ◽

Boqi Xiao ◽

Shanshan Yang ◽

Zhankui Wang ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Analytical Model ◽

Double Layer ◽

Diffusion Layer ◽

Electrical Double Layer ◽

Proton Exchange Membrane ◽

Gas Diffusion ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Transverse Permeability ◽

Exchange Membrane

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Structures of Membrane Electrode Assembly Catalyst Layers for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

The Open Fuels & Energy Science Journal ◽

10.2174/1876973x01205010028 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 28-38 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tzyy-Lung Leon Yu ◽

Hsiu-Li Lin ◽

Po-Hao Su ◽

Guan-Wen Wang

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cells ◽

Proton Exchange Membrane ◽

Membrane Electrode Assembly ◽

Gas Diffusion ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Membrane Electrode ◽

Catalyst Layers ◽

Black Layer ◽

Exchange Membrane ◽

Pt Black

In this paper, we modify the conventional 5-layer membrane electrode assembly (MEA, in which a proton exchange membrane (PEM) is located at its center, two Pt-C-40 (Pt on carbon powder support, Pt content 40 wt.%) catalyst layers (CLs) are located on the surfaces of the both sides of the PEM and two gas diffusion layers (GDLs) are attached next on the outer surfaces of two Pt-C-40 layers) and propose 7-layer and 9-layer MEAs by coating thin Pt-black CLs at the interfaces between the Pt-C-40 layer and the GDL and between the PEM and the Pt-C-40 layer and reducing the Pt-C-40 loading. The reduced Pt loading quantity of the Pt-C-40 layer is equal to the increased Pt loading quantity of the Pt-black layer, thus the total amount of Pt loadings in the unmodified conventional MEA and the modified MEAs are at a fixed Pt loading quantity. These modified MEAs may complicate the manufacture process. The main advantage of these 7- and 9-layer MEAs is the thinner CL thickness and thus lower CL proton transport resistance. Because of the thin Pt-black layer thickness in MEA, we avoid agglomeration of the Pt-black particles and maintain high Pt catalytic activity. We show these new CL structure MEAs have better fuel cells performance than the conventional 5-layer MEA.

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Roll-to-roll stack and lamination of gas diffusion layer in multilayer structured membrane electrode assembly

Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers Part B Journal of Engineering Manufacture ◽

10.1177/0954405419862090 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 234 (1-2) ◽

pp. 66-74

Author(s):

Jiankui Chen ◽

Xi Jiang ◽

Wei Tang ◽

Liang Ma ◽

Yiqun Li ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Diffusion Layer ◽

Proton Exchange Membrane ◽

Gas Diffusion Layer ◽

Membrane Electrode Assembly ◽

Gas Diffusion ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Membrane Electrode ◽

Roll To Roll ◽

Multilayer Membrane ◽

Exchange Membrane

A membrane electrode assembly is the core component of a proton-exchange membrane fuel cell stack. It consists of multilayer structured membranes which are flexible, heterogeneous and have variable cross section. To improve the efficiency of membrane electrode assembly processing and manufacturing, a roll-to-roll system with gas diffusion layer is designed. By peeling the protective membrane and the upper and lower gas diffusion layers’ hot-pressing, proton-exchange membrane is manufactured into a five-layer catalyst-coated membrane. Then, the catalyst-coated membrane is manufactured into membrane electrode assembly by multilayer membrane breakpoint die-cutting and laying-off. The system integrates multiple key technologies, including roll-to-roll precise feeding, gas diffusion layer multi-degree accurate operation and multichannel temperature control, to realize the precise positioning of flexible multilayer membrane and brittle gas diffusion layer. The tension inhomogeneity and critical wrinkling tension are modeled for web traveling in the continuous roll-to-roll manufacturing equipment. The proposed roll-to-roll stack and lamination system effectively combines discontinuous hot-pressing, die-cutting, laying-off technics to realize the high-efficiency manufacturing of membrane electrode assembly.

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