Chinese scientists develop high-performance hydrogen fuel cells

 

TIANJIN, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chinese scientists have developed a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with ultra-high volumetric power density, more than 80 percent higher than the performance of mainstream counterparts.

Jiao Kui, a professor at Tianjin University's School of Mechanical Engineering, and his team redesigned the proton exchange membrane fuel cell's architecture, incorporating new components and optimizing the gas-water-electric-heat transfer routes.

The team created an ultra-thin and ultra-high power density fuel cell. They eliminated traditional gas diffusion layers and flow channels by using ultra-thin carbon nanofiber film produced by electrospinning technology and metal foam.

This progress has contributed to a 90 percent reduction in the thickness of the membrane electrode assembly and a 80 percent reduction in mass transfer losses caused by reactant diffusion, nearly doubling the volumetric power density of the fuel cell.

The research team estimates that the peak volumetric power density of the fuel cell stack using the new structure will reach 9.8 kilowatts per liter.

Hydrogen fuel cells are regarded as one of the most promising technologies in the application of hydrogen energy. Increasing their volumetric power density, however, remains a significant technical challenge.

This breakthrough not only provides pivotal guidance for advancing proton exchange membrane fuel cell technology, but it also indicates a promising leap forward in the field of clean energy.

On Thursday, the findings were published in the international authoritative energy research journal Joule. 

 

Chinese scientists develop high-performance hydrogen fuel cells-Xinhua (news.cn)

Chinese scientists develop high-performance hydrogen fuel cells-Xinhua

 

Fuel cell stack redesign and component integration radically increase power density - ScienceDirect

Fuel cell stack redesign and component integration radically increase power density

Summary

The drawbacks of conventional channel-rib flow fields and gas diffusion layers (GDLs) significantly limit the mass transfer and water management capability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), impacting volumetric power density. We report a GDL-less design of electrode-flow field integration comprised of graphene-coated Ni foam and ultrathin (9.1 μm) carbon nanofiber film as an alternative to conventional channel-rib flow fields and GDLs, which substantially reduces membrane electrode assembly volume (90%), reactant transport distance (96%), and concentration impedance (88.6%), resulting in a remarkable 50% power density increase. The GDL-less design provides an effective strategy for the rational design of integrated electrode-flow field and will guide the future development of PEMFCs for their practical applications in energy conversion technologies. We estimate that the peak volumetric power density a PEMFC stack employing GDL-less design can achieve is 9.8 kW L−1, representing an increase of more than 80% compared with the state-of-the-art commercial PEMFC stack.