Development of Innovative Gas Diffusion Layers for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has a significant potential for use in a variety of applications, such as transportation, backup, and portable power, although there are still remaining technical and cost challenges that must be solved for commercialization- The DOE has recognized the importance of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) and has requested innovative GDL designs that will improve the water management properties, corrosion resistance, and provide improved thermal and electrical properties- In this program AvCarb Material Solutions (AMS) takes a multi-faceted approach to cost effectively alter state of the art GDL designs in a manner consistent with mass production, specifically focusing on improved water management and thermal/electrical properties- The main objective of this work is to demonstrate economical processes by which we can produce high quality GDLs with enhanced properties that will lead to improved performance under a variety of different operation conditions- The requirements for optimal GDLperformance in hot-dry conditions, when the membrane risks drying out and losing performance, and cool-wet conditions, when the GDL can be prone to flooding due to excess water, are very different- Each work task in this proposal, therefore, focuses on developing a process to modify one aspect of the GDL that may influence overall performance for a given condition- It is necessary to develop a firm understanding of how these processes can alter the GDL structure to improve performance in these extreme conditions- Improving the quality and performance of the GDL is instrumental to mass adoption of fuel cells- Fuel cells provide clean energy generation for a variety of applications, severely reduce the amount of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and reduce the reliance on foreign oil to make the U-S- more energy independent- There are also economic benefits for this program, as AvCarb is the only domestic source of GDL substrate material- AvCarb currently has the capacity to produce over 100,000 m2 of GDL per year, which puts them in a strong position as a global supplier- It is in the best interest of the general public and, more specifically, the DOE to ensure that we have a viable domestic source of high-quality and high performance GDL materials for current and next generation fuel cell projects-