Effects of membrane electrode assembly fabrication parameters on the proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance

Abstract

In this paper, experimental investigation focuses on analysing the simultaneous influences of four different fabrication parameters, including carbon loading in GDL, Nafion content in CL, drying temperature of CL and hot pressing temperature. Active area of the MEAs was 25 cm2 and characterisation of them was carried out by a 700 W fuel cell test station. Results show that the existence of MPL in GDL can improve performance of the PEMFC because of creating an even and steady surface which decreases ohmic resistance. The results confirm that the robustness of the optimum fabrication parameters influence performance of the cell. Optimum values of the parameters are: carbon loading in GDL, 3 mg cm−2; catalyst drying temperature, 60°C and Nafion content, 45%; but hot pressing temperature effect was lower than the other parameters. The expected performance of the fuel cell at optimum condition is 184.447 mW cm−2.