Abstract

Pervious studies have compressively examined a single direction ionomer gradient cathode catalyst layer (CCL) for enhancement of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells. However, a tridirectionally synergetic (TS) ionomer gradient CCL has not been investigated to date. It is reported that the design of multi-directional ionomer gradient CCL is significant for fuel cells. Therefore, this study proposes a novel TS gradient CCL for fuel cells. By implementing a three-dimensional multiphase fuel cell model, the novel TS gradient CCL is evaluated regarding internal physicochemical quantity distributions and overall cell performance. Numerical results indicate that in comparison with CCL with uniform and a single direction through-plane (TP) or in-plane (IP) ionomer gradient CCL with an identical ionomer content, the novel TS gradient CCL can enhance oxygen diffusion and proton conductivity within porous electrodes, thus improving the maximum power density by approximately 6.8%. Moreover, the optimal TS ionomer gradient CCL contributes to a reduction in coefficient variation of current density within CCL by 10.3% and 17.1% compared to that of uniform and TP(X) gradient CCLs, leading to more homogeneous internal physical quantity profiles, ultimately benefiting the stable operation and durability of fuel cells. The findings here can provide a new insight for guiding the design of ionomer gradient CCL.

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