Benefits of Membrane Electrode Assemblies with Asymmetrical GDL Configurations for PEM Fuel Cells

Abstract

Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), based on commercial catalyst-coated membranes combined with various gas diffusion layers (GDLs) on anode and cathode, were studied in terms of their specific advantages for different operations regimes of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs.) It is verified that MEAs with optimized gas diffusion layer designs (backing and micro-porous layers) on anode and cathode are able to provide improved cell performance combined with a largely reduced sensitivity towards changes in the relative humidity as compared to MEAs with symmetrical gas diffusion layer configuration.