Performance Enhancement of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell through Carbon Nanofibers Grown In Situ on Carbon Paper

• Published in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) Vol. 28; no. 6; p. 2810
• Main Authors: Liu, Chang, Li, Shang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 20.03.2023; MDPI
• Subjects: Alternative energy sources; Carbon fibers; Contact angle; Diffusion; Diffusion layers; Electrodes; Energy consumption; Energy resources; Energy storage; Fuel cell industry; Fuel cells; Fuel technology; gas diffusion layer; Gaseous diffusion; Heat conductivity; Humidity; Hydrogen as fuel; Hydrophobicity; in situ growth carbon nanofibers; microporous layer; Morphology; Nanofibers; Nanoparticles; Permeability; Polyanilines; Pore size; Porosity; proton exchange membrane fuel cell; Proton exchange membrane fuel cells; Relative humidity; Renewable resources; surface modification; Water flooding; China; proton exchange membrane fuel cell; in situ growth carbon nanofibers; surface modification; gas diffusion layer; microporous layer
• ISSN: 1420-3049; 1420-3049
• DOI: 10.3390/molecules28062810

We developed an integrated gas diffusion layer (GDL) for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells by growing carbon nanofibers (CNFs) in situ on carbon paper via the electro-polymerization of polyaniline (PANI) on carbon paper followed by a subsequent carbonization treatment process. The CNF/carbon paper showed a microporous structure and a significantly increased pore volume compared to commercial carbon paper. By utilizing this CNF/carbon paper in a PEM fuel cell, it was found that the cell with CNF/carbon paper had superior performance compared to the commercial GDL at both high and low humidity conditions, and its power density was as high as 1.21 W cm at 100% relative humidity, which is 26% higher than that of a conventional gas diffusion layer (0.9 W cm ). The significant performance enhancement was attributed to a higher pore volume and porosity of the CNF/carbon paper, which improved gas diffusion in the GDL. In addition, the superior performance of the cell with CNF/carbon paper at low relative humidity demonstrated that it had better water retention than the commercial GDL. This study provides a novel and facile method for the surface modification of GDLs to improve the performance of PEM fuel cells. The CNF/carbon paper with a microporous structure has suitable hydrophobicity and lower through-plane resistance, which makes it promising as an advanced substrate for GDLs in fuel cell applications.