Water Management Strategies in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells rely on a delicate balance between membrane hydration and liquid water removal to sustain high proton conductivity without flooding the porous layers or flow channels. Effective water management encompasses material selection for membranes and gas diffusion layers, tailored flow-field architectures to direct water transport, and the integration of passive and active removal mechanisms. Recent advances leverage imaging, modelling and biomimetic designs to elucidate multi-phase transport phenomena and optimise wettability and capillary forces. These strategies are vital for enhancing performance, durability and scalability of fuel cells in applications ranging from transport to stationary power, thereby supporting global decarbonisation efforts.

Research from Nature Portfolio

Large-scale high-resolution simulations have been achieved by combining X-ray micro-computed tomography with deep-learning super-resolution and multi-phase flow modelling. This approach resolved water clustering and transport over centimetre-scale domains, revealing how local wettability and structural heterogeneity in the gas diffusion layer and flow fields influence flooding and dry regions. In parallel, high-speed four-dimensional neutron imaging has been developed to capture time-resolved water evolution within operating cells. Dynamic visualisation of droplet nucleation, growth and removal across different flow-field geometries has provided quantitative metrics for water management performance, informing the design of next-generation architectures with optimised channel layouts and surface properties.

Water Management Strategies in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in water management strategies in polymer electrolyte fuel cells across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC): A hydrogen-powered electrochemical device that generates electricity via proton conduction through a hydrated polymer membrane.

Gas diffusion layer (GDL): A porous carbon layer that distributes reactant gases and facilitates water removal from the catalyst interface.

Flow field: The network of channels machined into bipolar plates to direct gas and liquid water movement across the electrode surface.

Neutron imaging: A non-destructive technique using neutron beams to visualise water distribution within opaque fuel cell components.

X-ray computed tomography (X-ray CT): A three-dimensional imaging method that reconstructs internal structures and liquid water pathways in situ.

Capillary microchannel: A small groove or pore engineered to exploit capillary forces for passive liquid water transport and drainage.

References

1. Large-scale physically accurate modelling of real proton exchange membrane fuel cell with deep learning. Nature Communications (2023).
2. High-speed 4D neutron computed tomography for quantifying water dynamics in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Nature Communications (2022).
3. A Scalable and Robust Water Management Strategy for PEMFCs: Operando Electrothermal Mapping and Neutron Imaging Study. Advanced Science (2024).
4. Water spatial distribution in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell: Convolutional neural network analysis of neutron radiography. Energy and AI (2023).
5. Temperature dependent water transport mechanism in gas diffusion layers revealed by subsecond operando X-ray tomographic microscopy. Journal of Power Sources (2021).