Abstract
High performance operation of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) is limited by water condensation in a cathode gas diffusion layer (GDL) because oxygen transport to reaction sites is blocked. In this study, we observe removal behavior of condensed water in a cathode of PEFC using a long-distance microscope and discuss its characteristics. Furthermore, the structure of cathode electrode for controlling water transport is proposed in order to improve cell performance. It is shown that water removal is promoted by using the cathode GDL with a slit and cell voltage is increased.
