Effect of Binder and Compression on the Transport Parameters of a Multilayer Gas Diffusion Layer

• Published in: Energy & fuels 2021-09, Vol.35 (18), p.15058-15073
• Main Authors: Wang, Hao, Yang, Guogang, Li, Shian, Shen, Qiuwan, Liao, Jiadong, Jiang, Ziheng, Zhang, Guoling, Zhang, Hongpeng, Su, Fengmin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Fuel Cells
• ISSN: 0887-0624; 1520-5029
• DOI: 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.1c01598

The effect of binder and compression on the transport parameters of the multilayer gas diffusion layer (GDL) is numerically studied by the lattice Boltzmann method. A stochastic algorithm is implemented to generate three multilayer GDLs with a porosity gradient and a uniform GDL, and then, the GDLs are compressed after the binder is added to obtain structures with various binder volume fractions and various compression ratios. The pore size distribution, through-plane (TP) permeability, in-plane (IP) permeability, tortuosity, and electric conductivity of the four structures of GDLs are analyzed. The pore size distributions of GDLs move toward smaller pores due to compression, and the GDL with a larger porosity gradient has a larger maximum pore size. The TP permeability decreases with the increase of compression ratio and binder volume fraction, and the TP permeability of the four GDLs decreases similarly due to compression, but the TP permeability of the multilayer GDL with a larger porosity gradient drops more due to the binder. IP permeability is slightly affected by the compression. Similar to TP permeability, the IP permeability of the multilayer GDL with a large porosity gradient decreases more due to the binder. Multilayer GDL with a small porosity gradient has a smaller tortuosity, more superior pore connectivity, and thus more outstanding gas permeability. The electric conductivity increases with the increase in compression ratio and binder volume fraction.