Dörenkamp Tim, Zaccarelli Ambra, Büchi Felix N, Schmidt Thomas J, Eller Jens
PSI Center for Energy and Environmental Sciences, Villigen PSI CH-5232, Switzerland.
Department of Materials, ETH Zürich, Zürich CH-8093, Switzerland.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2025 Apr 23;17(16):23959-23971. doi: 10.1021/acsami.5c00770. Epub 2025 Apr 10.
The accumulation of liquid water in the gas diffusion layer (GDL) and associated clogging of the reactant pathways are limiting factors for the performance of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC). The design and manufacturing of GDLs with a deterministic pore space have the potential to accelerate the development of next-generation PEFC with an optimized balance between reactant supply and product removal. In this study, we explore the potential of GDLs with tailored pore structures obtained from the carbonization of a 3D-printed precursor. Three different GDL designs are investigated by using operando X-ray radiography and subsequent X-ray tomography to track the water pathways. The results confirm the effectiveness of the designed features in terms of controlled liquid water percolation and reveal a trend toward vapor phase transport rather than liquid transport of water away from the catalyst layer interface along with a strong convective flow within the highly porous ordered structures.
气体扩散层（GDL）中液态水的积累以及相关反应物通道的堵塞是聚合物电解质燃料电池（PEFC）性能的限制因素。设计和制造具有确定性孔隙空间的GDL有潜力加速下一代PEFC的发展，使其在反应物供应和产物去除之间实现优化平衡。在本研究中，我们探索了通过3D打印前驱体碳化获得的具有定制孔隙结构的GDL的潜力。通过使用原位X射线成像和随后的X射线断层扫描来追踪水的路径，研究了三种不同的GDL设计。结果证实了所设计特征在控制液态水渗流方面的有效性，并揭示了一种趋势，即气相传输而非液相传输水从催化剂层界面离开，同时在高度多孔的有序结构内存在强烈的对流流动。
