Study on PEFC Gas Diffusion Layer with Designed Wettability Pattern Tolerant to Flooding
Authors: Sakaida Satoshi , Tabe Yutaka , Chikahisa Takemi , Tanaka Kotaro , Konno Mitsuru 
Published: February 2020

For reduction of the cost of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC), it is desired to increase the maximum current density. Under high current density operation, it is important to control water drainage for smooth supply of oxygen. A gas diffusion layer (GDL) which is placed between separator and CL plays an important role for the water transport. Therefore, the improvement of GDL design is important to increase the maximum current density. Recently, there is a report which shows that better cell performance was obtained using the GDL with designed hydrophobic and hydrophilic lines (1). However, the water transport in the GDL is still unclear because the detail observation of liquid water behavior in GDL is difficult due to the quite complex structure and the very small pores (pore diameter: approximately 10 mm). Therefore, there is some room for improving the GDL structure. The objective of this study is to investigate the water transport in GDL with designed wettability pattern and to develop the ideal GDL.

To evaluate the water transport in the GDL, a lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is applied. The LBM is a simulation method to analyze the fluid behavior by tracking movements of large number of particle ensembles. The particle density is expressed by distribution functions, and the distribution functions are calculated by a simple law of collision and transition ensuring the continuity equation and the Navier-Stokes equations for incompressible fluids. Due to the simplicity of the algorithm, it has an advantage of adaptability for complex boundary geometries. Therefore, the LBM is suitable model to simulate the water behavior in the GDL. For high speed calculation, the LBM treating two-phases as having the same density is applied in this study although the densities of air and water are very different. The applicability of this LBM model for the simulation in GDL has been confirmed in the previous study (2). The density of the two-phase in the simulation is set identical to water, ρ = 978kg/m3. The interfacial tension between the two-phase is σ = 6.40×10-2N/m, and liquid and gas viscosities are μL
= 4.04×10-4Pa∙s and μG
= 2.30×10-5Pa∙s respectively.

Figure 1 shows the simulation domain and boundaries. The lower half of simulation domain is GDL layer, on which rib and channel space are placed. Size of GDL is 240μm × 240μm × 100μm and the porosity of GDL is 75%. Sizes of rib and channel are both 120μm × 240μm × 160μm. The bottom of the simulation domain is assumed the micro-porous layer (MPL) and it is treated as a solid wall. Commonly, much water stays in the GDL region under rib. Therefore, to focus on the water behavior in GDL under rib, MPL crack as inlet boundary is set at MPL under rib. Top of the channel is outlet boundary. Four side boundaries are solid walls. The contact angle of GDL, MPL and side walls is set 130º. The contact angle of rib is set 50º.

Figure 2 shows simulation results of water transport in GDL without designed wettability pattern. In the simulation, the water is transported randomly and water spreads in the x-y plane of GDL. Finally, the water is drained to channel from pores which is slightly away from the rib. Figure 3 shows simulation results of water transport in GDL with designed wettability pattern. The pattern is set in the center of GDL structure and the size is 50μm × 240μm × 100μm. The contact angle of designed wettability pattern is 50º. Here, the GDL structure is same as Fig. 2. In the simulation, the water is accumulated in the designed wettability pattern of GDL and the smooth water transport from the GDL region under rib to the GDL region under channel is achieved. It is known that water tends to retain in the GDL under ribs and smooth removal of the water is important to avoid flooding. In Ref. (1), it seems that the cell performance using the GDL with designed wettability pattern was improved by the smooth water transport from GDL under rib to GDL under channel. In the final full paper, the effect of the structural characteristics of the GDL such as the contact angle of the pattern and the pore distributions will be discussed.

Figure 1