Coupling of Deterministic Contact Mechanics Model and Two-Phase Model to Study the Effect of Catalyst Layer|Microporous Layer Interface on Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Performance

We present a two-phase, two-dimensional computational model for studying the effect the microporous layer (MPL) and catalyst layer (CL) interface has on the performance of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). The CL|MPL interface is incorporated as a finite-thickness domain where liquid water sat...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ECS transactions 2013, Vol.58 (1), p.1125-1135
Main Authors: Zenyuk, Iryna V, Taspinar, Reyhan, Kalidindi, Arvind R, Kumbur, Emin Caglan, Litster, Shawn
Format: Article
Language:English
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:We present a two-phase, two-dimensional computational model for studying the effect the microporous layer (MPL) and catalyst layer (CL) interface has on the performance of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). The CL|MPL interface is incorporated as a finite-thickness domain where liquid water saturation levels are determined with van Genuchten water retention curves. These relations are extracted through deterministic contact mechanics model that simulates the three-dimensional interfacial deformation under different levels of compression. Model simulations show high levels of liquid water saturation at the interface that have significant effect on the PEFC performance as opposed to when interfacial contact resistance is included there is a minor performance decrease.
ISSN:1938-5862
1938-6737
DOI:10.1149/05801.1125ecst