A review on gas diffusion layer in proton exchange membrane fuel cell: Materials and manufacturing

A promising alternative to fossil fuel energy is the fuel cell technology. Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are widely used in electric vehicle and mobile power generation fields. There are several components in the PEM fuel cell, namely the gas diffusion layer (GDL), PEM, catalyst layer (C...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture, 2024-05, Vol.238 (6-7), p.785-796
Main Authors: Luo, Chuanxu, Choo, Hui Leng, Ahmad, Hafisoh, Sivasankaran, Praveena Nair
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Diffusion layers
Electric vehicles
Fuel cells
Gaseous diffusion
Manufacturing
Monolayers
Multilayers
Production methods
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells
Protons
Reagents
Substrates
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Summary:A promising alternative to fossil fuel energy is the fuel cell technology. Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are widely used in electric vehicle and mobile power generation fields. There are several components in the PEM fuel cell, namely the gas diffusion layer (GDL), PEM, catalyst layer (CL) and bipolar plate (BPP). The GDL is one of the key components of a PEM fuel cell and acts as a distributor of reagents, current conductor, water manager and a CL support. This paper presents an analysis of the materials and fabrication technologies of the GDL in the PEM fuel cell. A summary of the main materials for manufacturing the macroporous substrate (MPS) and microporous layer (MPL) of GDL was presented. Advanced manufacturing methods were described as single layer manufacturing, double layer manufacturing and multilayer manufacturing. A brief overview of the materials and manufacturing processes of BPP and CL were also presented. Future research directions have also been proposed.
ISSN:0954-4054
2041-2975
DOI:10.1177/09544054231187675