Microscopic Visualization of State and Behavior of Liquid Water in a Gas Diffusion Layer of PEFC

抄録

Water flooding in a cathode gas diffusion layer (GDL) is one of the critical problems of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) because liquid water condensed in the porous GDL blocks oxygen transport to the active reaction sites. In this study, we experimentally investigate state of liquid water in a porous electrode of PEFC cathode using an optical diagnostic system and show that it is affected by operating parameters and GDL thickness. Furthermore, microscopic behavior of condensed water inside a cathode GDL of operated PEFC is also predicted by using the GDL with a groove.