Abstract
To investigate the effect of the chemical species transport and temperature distribution on the electrochemical reaction kinetics in catalyst layer, two-dimensional two-phase unsteady-state PEFC model was developed. Gas diffusion layer (GDL), the cathode catalyst layer (CL), and cathode MPL were calculated in the model. In this model, catalyst layer was treated as spherical aggregates model made with Pt, carbon particles and the polymer electrolyte. Electrochemical reaction, heat transfer and transport of chemical species (electrons hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, water vapor, liquid water, and the proton) were considered in this model. Prediction of temperature distribution in the cell showed that the occurrence of liquid water affected. And it indicated that the existence of MPL affects liquid water transport.
