Materials in PEM Fuel Cells

A Baroutaji, Cork Institute of Technology, Cork, Ireland

JG Carton, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland
M Sajjia, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland
AG Olabi, University of the West of Scotland, Paisley, Scotland
r 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

1 Introduction 1
2 Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) 2
2.1 Work Fundamentals 2
2.2 Performance 2
3 Main Components and Materials of PEMFC 3
3.1 Membrane 3
3.2 Electro-Catalyst Layer 4
3.3 Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) 5
3.4 Bipolar Flow Plates 6
4 Conclusion 8
References 9

1 Introduction

The demand for clean power source in modern a society is increasing on a daily basis in many countries due to fact that high
emissions have a direct impact on climate change.
The high efficiency, low emission and zero noise pollution features of fuel cells have made them a promising clean power source.
Fuel cells offer the possibility of zero-emissions power production by using hydrogen as a fuel to generate electrical energy
through a chemical reaction.
Various types of fuel cells have been developed over the last few decades such as Alkaline fuel cell (AFC), Direct Methanol fuel
cell (DMFC), Phosphoric Acid fuel cell (PAFC), Molten Carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), Solid Oxide fuel cell (SOFC),1–2 and Proton
Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell.
PEM fuel cells are low temperature fuel cells that use a solid polymer in the form of a solid phase proton conducting membrane
as an electrolyte which eliminate the need to contain corrosive liquids. PEM fuel cells have many advantages over the other fuel
cell types; including low temperature operation, high power density, fast start up, system robustness, flexibility of fuel type (with
reformer) and reduced sealing, corrosion, shielding or leaking concerns.3
PEM fuel cells are candidates for a wide range of portable and stationary power applications which include transport as a major
application, stationary and portable power generator and electronic devices.
Besides using the PEM fuel cell as a standalone power generator, the PEM fuel cell can be implemented with a renewable energy
system for energy storage application.4
Generally, The PEM fuel cell could be prepared as a single cell for small power requirement or as a cell stack where many cells
are combined together to achieve the voltage and power output level required for the application.
In spite of the excellent features as a power source, PEM fuel cell technology still faces serious challenges in terms of cost,
durability and performance.
Fuel cell technology (particularly PEM type) use platinum as catalyst. Platinum catalyst form one of the largest cost compo-
nents in the fuel cells. Fuel cell design with an effective utilization of platinum catalyst could contribute directly to cost reduction.
In addition, finding a Platinum-alternative catalyst will cause further cost reduction of fuel cell.
In general, the Fuel cells are slightly bigger than batteries with same capacity. However, in order to meet the full requirements of
portable applications, the developers of PEM fuel cells have to reduce the size and weight of fuel cells.
As a power source, the mechanical durability of fuel cell is considered as a key performance factor particularly for transport
applications.
The mechanical durability of the fuel cell can be enhanced through design and develop a bipolar plate with high mechanical
strength and high corrosion resistance.
Metals-based flow plates provide several advantages over the traditional graphite flow plates from the durability point of view.
The main drawback of the metallic flow plates is that they normally corrode in the PEM fuel cell environment.
In addition to corrosion problem of the flow plates, the membrane degradation during long-term operations of the PEMFC
forms another durability concern in this technology.

Reference Module in Materials Science and Materials Engineering doi:10.1016/B978-0-12-803581-8.04006-6 1

2 Materials in PEM Fuel Cells

The high cost and low durability of the PEM fuel cell are the main commercialization barriers of this technology.
An insight into the materials used for manufacturing the main components of the PEM fuel cell and their current status of
development may contribute directly to solve the problems related to the main challenges of the PEM fuel cell (i.e., high cost and
low durability) which should lead subsequently to the world-wide commercialization of the technology.

2 Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC)

2.1 Work Fundamentals

PEMFC is an electrochemical device that produces electrical power through a chemical reaction between a fuel, such as hydrogen,
and an oxidant, such as oxygen.
As any electrochemical device, the PEMFC consists of ion conducting electrolyte in the form of solid sandwiched between a
cathode and an anode, as described schematically in Figure 1.
A fuel such as hydrogen is delivered into the anode side and an oxidant, normally oxygen, into the cathode side.
The electrolyte prevents the direct reaction between the fuel and the oxidant but it allows ions to travel across it.
Accordingly, at the anode side, the hydrogen is ionized to form protons (H þ ) which can cross the electrolyte, whereas at the
cathode, oxygen is reduced and forms water with protons (H þ ) that are transported through the proton conductive membrane.
The sub-reactions and overall reaction can be expressed by the following equations:

Anode H2 -2Hþ þ 2e ½1

1
Cathode O2 þ 2Hþ þ 2e -H2 O ½2
2

1
Overall O2 þ H2 -H2 O ½3
2

2.2 Performance
The performance of the PEM fuel cell can be described by a characteristic curve which plot the voltage output as a function of
electrical current density, called as (I–V) curve, as shown in Figure 2. The ideal voltage- current curve is a straight line at 1.23 V.
However this is not the case for the practical fuel cells which have many types of losses. These losses can be categorized into three
main groups as follow:

(1) kinetics losses which are due to the poor electrode kinetics and it can be improved by the characteristics of the
electrocatalytic layer.
(2) Ohmic losses which are due to the Ohmic resistance of the cell components.
(3) And finally mass transport loses which are due to the fact that the water generated from the reaction blocks the channels and
lead to the limited diffusion of reactant gases.

Figure 1 Schematic of a PEM fuel cell.

 Materials in PEM Fuel Cells 3

Figure 2 A typical I–V for a PEM fuel cell with the location of different losses.

3 Main Components and Materials of PEMFC

Practically, the primary components of a PEM fuel cell are:

• the ion exchange membrane as solid electrolyte

• an electrically conductive, porous gas diffusion layer
• an electro-catalyst (the electrodes) at the interface between the backing layer and the membrane
• Cell interconnects and flow plates that deliver the fuel and oxidant to reactive sites via flow channels and electrically connect
the cells.

Generally, the first three components are joined together to form a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) which is the heart of
the PEM fuel cell.
In this section, the engineering materials used in these main components will be explored.

3.1 Membrane
The membrane materials should be able to conduct protons so that the ionic conductivity is the most important feature of a
candidate electrolyte material.
In addition to the high ion conductivity, the membrane should be durable, robust and resistant to chemical attack.
The choice of membrane materials depends on the temperature range at which the fuel cells are operating so that the
membrane should have a wide operating temperature range  30 to 200 1C.
Normally for PEM fuel cells which operate at temperatures below 100 1C, sulfonated polymers such as Nafion are the most
used material.
The sulfonated polymers are comprised of perfluorinated back-bones and sulfonated side-chains.
The perfluoroether are responsible for the chemical stability while the function of sulfonated side-chains is to aggregate and
facilitate hydration.
The commercial name of this membrane is NAFION which is invented and manufactured by DuPont. The chemical chain of
Nafion is shown in Figure 3.
This material group has a unique feature which combines the proton conductivity represented by hydrophilic micro-phase of
the sulfonic acid groups and the high mechanical strength represented by the hydrophobic polymeric phase of the perfluorinated
back-bones.
In general, for more efficient ion conducting be the membrane, the hydration level of the polymer should be increased.
The main challenges associated with the use of the perfluorinated membrane can be summarized as follow13:

• The complicated and environmentally unfriendly production process which involves toxic intermediates and waste products.
• Very high cost materials (B$700/m2)
• The dependence of proton conductivity on the water content of the membrane may lead to use humidification equipment to
reach the required level of humidity.
• Inoperability at high temperatures.
• Swelling and shrinking may be occurred during the operation due to changes in water uptake during humidity and thermal
cycling.
4 Materials in PEM Fuel Cells

Figure 3 Structure of Nafion and its close polymers.20

• Chemical degradation which may happen over long term operation of the PEM fuel cell. This degradation is attributed to
peroxide formation that attacks the membranes structure by contaminant transition metal ions forming reactive peroxyl and/or
hydroxyl radicals.

Significant research efforts have been made to overcome the aforementioned challenges and to develop cheaper and less water
dependent membrane material.
A Perfluorinated composite membrane was introduced by Gore and Associates.5,6 The principle of this membrane is based on
the idea of reinforcing the perfluorinated membrane by embedding thin porous polytetrafluoroethene (PTFE) foils. The main
advantages of this membrane include very thin, very high proton conductivity and excellent mechanical stability.
Nanocomposite membranes were proposed by many researchers to overcome the hydration problem of the Nafion membrane.
The approach used for developing this type of membrane based on the concept of modifying the Nafion membranes with micron
or submicron inorganic/organic additives such as ZrO2,7 TiO2,8 TiSiO4,9 and Silica.10 These inorganic/organic additives offer a
high water retention capability, which enables the membrane to maintain its proton conductivity when the fuel cell operate at
high temperature, and improved chemical and physical properties of the membrane such as elastic modulus, tensile strength and
hydrophilicity.
The hydrocarbon polymers such as sulfonated hydrocarbons were suggested as Nafion-alternative membrane in Ref. 11. This
material enables the manufacturing of nonfluorinated membrane for PEM fuel cell applications. The hydrocarbon polymers have
some drawbacks such as low thermal and chemical stability and lower proton conductivity comparing with perfluorinated
materials. However, these polymers exhibit many distinct improvements such as low cost, high water uptake, wide temperature
range and recyclability.
A fullerene-based membrane was investigated in Ref. 12. This membrane material enables the operation of PEMFC at high
temperature (4150), increase the electrode kinetic rate, reduces the use of expensive catalysts and improve the performance of the
fuel cell.
There are a number of other materials that have been developed as Nafion-alternative membrane such as partial fluorine
polymers and polymer/acid complexes membranes. Addressing all membrane types is beyond the scope of this paper so the
interested reader can refer to Ref. 13 for more in-depth and wider information.

3.2 Electro-Catalyst Layer

The function of electro-catalyst layer is to initiate the dissociation of the hydrogen, on the anode side, and for accelerating the
oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on the cathode side. Then, the electrons, produced on the anode side, travel through an external
circuit to produce the current while the protons traverse the membrane to the cathode side of the membrane and combine with the
oxygen and the electrons arriving from the external circuit to produce water and heat.
In low-temperature applications, as in PEM fuel cell which operate with pure hydrogen and air, platinum is extensively
employed as a catalyst because it is the most active noble metal.
Generally, the platinum-based catalyst layers are superb for fuel cell with comparatively clean reactants.
However, the major challenge of the platinum-based catalyst arises when the hydrogen fuel contains residual mono oxide
(CO). The CO poisons the Pt catalyst layer leading to a steady degradation of the fuel cell performance.
In order to avoid the mono oxide poisoning problem, a platinum–ruthenium (Pt–Ru) catalyst is suggested. Incorporating of Ru
in the Pt–Ru catalyst eliminates the effects the electro-oxidation of CO and enhance the performance of the fuel cell.14,15 Many
other Pt-alloy catalysts were investigated but none of them was as good as Pt–Ru alloy due to instability during the electrochemical
reaction.16–19 S.M. Haile20 reported that Pt–Cr alloy may exhibit some slight advantages over Pt alone when used as catalyst on the
cathode side.
Reducing the amount of platinum in the electro-catalyst layer will reduce the overall cost of the PEMFC technology and allow
for mass production.
Mainly, the platinum content can be reduced either by alloying it with low cost metals as pointed out before or by the
application of core shell catalysts.
The core shell catalysts are nanoscopic low cost metal core covered by a platinum shell.
Many metals were used with Pt to form core shell catalysts such as Copper (Cu) and rhenium (Rh).21
 Materials in PEM Fuel Cells 5

Figure 4 structure of the catalyst layer.22

Figure 5 Microscope images of the carbon paper used as gas diffusion layer in PEMFCs.26

Developing of Platinum-free catalysts is another route to reduce the cost of the fuel cell.
It is very important for the Platinum-free catalysts to sustain their stability in acidic environment of the PEM fuel cell. Many
metals were investigated as Platinum-alternative catalysts including Cobalt (Co) and Iron (Fe). Both of these metals proved their
suitability as catalyst in PEM fuel cell where the metal ion is incorporated in a nitrogen macrocycle comparable to the natural
porphyrinring system.13
It should be noted that in order to insure the proton and the electron conductivity of the membrane active layer, the contact
between all involved components including catalyst, reactant gas (hydrogen or oxygen) and polymer should be maximized.
To achieve this, the catalyst particles normally are embedded onto porous conductive material called catalyst support
layer (CSL).
Using of CSL allows for fine distribution of catalyst particles with high surface areas as well as the electronic conductivity.
In order to ensure the proton conductivity of the catalyst layer, a porous electrode material (Nafion) is also integrated with it as
shown in Figure 4.
The CSL plays an important role in the efficient utilization of the catalyst by maintaining the correct balance of reactants and
products at the triple-phase interface.23
The catalyst which consists of platinum nano-particles high surface area carbon black (Pt/C) is the most widely used catalyst
in PEMFC.
However, a number of carbon-based nanostructured materials with high surface area and porous structures such as single-wall
carbon nanotubes (SWNTs),23,24 multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs),22 carbon nanofibers, nanohorns, and grapheme25 have
been recently investigated as potential GSL.
The amount of Pt loadings usually depends on the kind of application. The typical platinum loadings in the electrode today
are around 0.4–0.8 mg platinum/cm2. The US Department of Energy (DOE) has set the targets of 0.2 mg/cm2 for 2015 and
0.125 mg/cm2 for 2017.

3.3 Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL)

The gas diffusion layer (GDL) is the outer layer of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and placed between the flow plates
and catalyst layer. The GDL, which is thicker than the catalyst layer, serves many important tasks in the PEMFC: (1) Provide
mechanical support for the catalyst structure and membrane, (2) conduct electrons between the bipolar plate and the electrode,
(3) protect the catalyst layer from corrosion or erosion caused by flows, (4) contribute to heat and water removal, (5) disperse the
reactant from the flow plates over the catalyst layer.
To fulfill all of the above functions, The GDL should have high electronic and thermal conductivity, has a porous nature,
thicker than the catalyst and hydrophilic.
The most popular materials used as GDL in PEMFC are carbon fiber paper and carbon cloth as shown in Figure 5.
An investigation carried out in Ref. 27 revealed that the carbon cloth offers a better performance than the paper at high current
(40.5 A cm2) with internal humidification.
6 Materials in PEM Fuel Cells

Due to fact that the water may block the porous of the GDL which are very necessary for reactant transport, the GDL could be
coated with a hydrophobic material such as Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to prevent the GDL flooding phenomena.13
The amount of PTFE should be selected very carefully as any extra amount could affect the water removal process operated by
the GDL.
Benziger et al.28 investigated the effect PTFE loading in various GDL materials on water transport. The authors investigated the
water flow through carbon cloth and carbon paper GDLs coated with PTFE. Due to the hydrophobic nature of the PTFE no water
flowed through the GDL until pressures of 5–10 kPa were applied. Increasing the applied hydrostatic pressure enabled water to
flow through smaller pores in the GDL. It was noted that water flows through less than 1% of the void volume in the GDL; the
small pores remain free of water to permit gas to the catalyst layer.
The flow inside the GDL can be categorized as multi-phase flow particularly at the cathode side where the water is formed. In
order to improve the flow characteristics of the multi-phase and enhance the liquid removal, A Micro-Porous Layer (MPL) can be
integrated with GDL at the catalyst layer side.
Many researchers29,30 investigated the effect of a micro-porous layer (MPL) on water transport. It was proved that an MPL
enhances the liquid water removal and therefore decreases flooding of GDL. It was suggested that an MPL placed at the cathode
side enhances the water transport through the membrane toward the anode. Increased water removal from the cathode and
increased water flow across the membrane might improve the cell performance in at least two ways: first by reducing the flooding
at the cathode, secondly by enhancing the hydration of the membrane and therefore increasing the conductivity of the membrane.
Like all other components of the PEMFC, the GDL is also subjected to degradation after long term operations. Its wettability
may change due to loss of the PTFE and also its fiber could break due to cold/warm cycle.31
To overcome the degradation problem of the carbon-based GDL,32 suggested using of metallic material, such as copper,
tailored into a porous configuration, as shown in Figure 6, as gas diffusion media. The small thickness and straight-pore feature of
the material was able to enhance the water management inside the PEMFC. Also, results revealed that the FC performance did not
decline at lower flow rates of reactants. Finally, it was also shown that the performance can be further improved by increasing the
in-plane transport.

3.4 Bipolar Flow Plates

The flow plates, used on cathode and anode side of a PEMFC, distribute fuel and oxidant to reactive sites, collect produced current,
remove reaction products and heat, facilitate water management through the cell and provide mechanical support for the cells in a
PEMFC stack.
One of the key strategies for improving the performance and durability of the PEM fuel cell is to design and develop cheap
bipolar plate with high corrosion resistance.

Figure 6 Image of copper GDL.32

 Materials in PEM Fuel Cells 7

The effective design of the flow plates should ensure the efficient distribution of the fuel and oxidant to the catalyst layer, can
increase the utilization of catalyst, improve the water management through the cell and provide effective collection of the
produced current.33 Various designs for the flow field were proposed by the researchers including pins, straight channels, ser-
pentine channels,34 integrated channels, interdigitated channels,35,36 and bio-inspired flow fields.37 A detailed review for all flow
field configurations was introduced in Ref. 38. The various types of flow fields, as shown in Figure 7, have common drawbacks such
as; large pressure losses, high cost of manufacturing and low mechanical strength; which increase the weight and volume of the
fuel cell. In addition, the flow channels can cause unequal distribution of the electrochemical reactions which lead to irregular
utilization of the catalyst.39
As an alternative to conventional flow plates, researchers40–44 have identified that Open Pore Cellular Foam (OPCF) materials,
as shown in Figure 8, can provide several advantages over the conventional flow plates such as better gas flow through the fuel cell,
lower pressure drop from inlet to outlet.
It is worth to mention that Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) modeling was employed by many researchers43–52 to develop
and optimize the bipolar flow plates.

Figure 7 Various flow fields used in PEMFC (a) Straight parallel flow field channel, (b) Serpentine flow field channel, (c) Interdigitated flow field
channel, (d) Pin-type flow field channel, (e) Bio-inspired flow channel (Collected from Ref. 38).

Figure 8 Open pore cellular foam as flow plate for PEMFC.

8 Materials in PEM Fuel Cells

Using of CFD tool in the fuel cell area can provide detailed information about the flow regime such as flow distribution,
pressure pattern, and pressure drop. This information is essential for the geometric design of flow plates and flow fields and their
suitability for a PEM fuel cell.
Traditionally, graphite was used to fabricate the bipolar plates, because of its high corrosion resistance, relatively low surface
contact resistance and high surface conductivity, in the PEM fuel cell environment. However, graphite is brittle, has a high
permeability to gases, and has relatively low cost effectiveness for mass production manufacturing. Thus, various types of material
such as metals, alloys, and carbon-based composites are currently under investigation to develop cost-effective and durable bipolar
plates which can replace the graphite ones.
In fact, metals and their alloys provide several advantages over the carbon-based composites as they possess higher mechanical
strength, can be made thinner to achieve higher power density better durability, no permeability, and higher cost effectiveness.
A considerable amount of research have investigated the corrosion behavior of bare and coated metals such as Stainless steel
(SS),53–56 titanium (Ti),57,58 nickel, and aluminum (Al).59–61
The different grades of Stainless steel alloys were considered as the reference materials for metal bipolar plates.53,54,62
Many studies have reported that the performance of stainless steels in PEMFC environment is strongly depended on alloying
elements such as Cr, Ni, and Mo.53,54,62
A passive oxide layer which consists of Fe2O3 and Cr2O3 was noticed in the tested SS alloys. This oxide layer, particularly with
Cr2O3, has a profound effect on corrosion resistance of the alloys. The thickness of the oxide layer had a great effect on the magnitude
of interfacial contact resistance (ICR). Davies et al.62 pointed out that the SS alloys with lower Cr and Ni content exhibited thicker
oxides resulting in high ICR so the SS alloys with higher alloy content is recommended for bipolar plate applications.
In addition to SS alloys, titanium (Ti) and its alloys were considered as a proper material for bipolar plate applications due to
its high strength to weight ratio and also its outstanding chemical stability in acidic environment.
It was indicated through many investigations that the uncoated titanium Ti had better anti-corrosion properties than the
uncoated 316SS in PEMFC environments but the power output was lower due to the thicker oxide formed on the surface of Ti and
the released ions such as Ti þ 2.57,63
Aluminum and its alloys are very attractive metals for metallic bipolar plates. The low density, cost effectiveness and ease of
fabrication features of Al make it an ideal bipolar plate material.
In spite of these superior features, Al and its alloys are not as good as stainless steels and titanium for PEMFC as they have
higher corrosion rates and shorter cell life.
Generally, it was reported by the researchers that bare metals such SS, Al, Ti, Ni, etc. are prone to corrosion or dissolution in the
PEM fuel cell environment (pH ¼ 2–3 at temperature around 80 1C).64
The dissolved metal ions can poison the active sites of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and result in decreasing the
power output of the fuel cell.53,65
Furthermore, the bare metals used in PEM fuel cell environment develop a thin oxide layer (corrosion layer) on their surface. This
layer increases the electrical resistance and decreases the fuel cell efficiency due to the increase of interfacial contact resistance.66
From the other side, the surface oxide layer protects the metal as it inhibits the corrosion from progressing further through the
lower layers beneath the surface.67
To overcome the corrosion problem, corrosion resistant coatings are required improve the surface properties of the bare metals
and to enhance both the durability of bipolar plates and performance of the fuel cell.
Two main classifications of coatings, carbon-based and metal-based, have been studied.68–70
Carbon-based coatings include conductive polymers (e.g., polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole (PPY)),71,72 graphite,73–76 and
Composite coating (e.g., TiC-ETFE, Ag-PTFE).77,78
The metal-base coatings for bipolar plate applications include Noble metals (e.g., gold and platinum),79 metal nitrides (e.g.,
Titanium nitride and chromium nitride)80–93; and metal carbides (e.g., Chromium carbide),94–97 and conductive metal oxide (e.g.,
fluorine doped Tin (II) oxide (SnO2: F) and Ruthenium oxide (RuO2)).98–101
In summary, the coated metals via either carbon-based or metal-based coatings have showed a significant improvement in the
corrosion behavior in comparison with uncoated ones.

4 Conclusion

This paper provides a useful intensive introduction to the subject of fuel cell. The main focus of this paper was on the materials
used for the main components of the PEM fuel cell such as membrane, electro-catalyst, gas diffusion media, and flow plates.
Besides that, an overview on the working fundamentals and performance of this technology were provided.
Despite the recent accelerated developments of the technology, PEM fuel cells still need to solve many major problems
including, high cost, low power density, low mechanical durability and corrosion, complexity, and material degradation.
In general, many of the above challenges can be solved by the optimal design and selection of the material of the main
components.
 Materials in PEM Fuel Cells 9

The main challenges in context of the materials used in this technology can be summarized as follow:

• Membrane: Nafion-based membranes are limited to low temperature operation, has issues with over hydration or dehydration,
have high degree of dimensional change during the operation and may need humidification. Up to date, the developed Nafion-
alternative membranes have not reached the proton conductivity of the Nafion and may offer instability during the operation.
Therefore, the research door is still open to find an innovative conductive and durable membrane for PEMFC.
• Catalyst: The platinum-based catalyst layer is the most expensive part of PEM fuel cell. The main disadvantage of these catalysts
is that the platinum can be poisoned by contaminants reducing its performance. Reducing of platinum content without
degrading the cell performance and developing platinum-free catalyst are important fields for further research and development
activity. It should be mentioned that, over the last few years, a notable progress have been reached in this field. For example, the
platinum content in fuel cells was reduced by more than double between 2008 and 2012 where catalyst specific power (i.e.,
power per gram catalyst) was increased from the 2008 baseline of 2.8–5.8 kW g1 in 2012. Current catalyst specific power is
approaching the 2017 target of 8.0 kW/g.
• Flow plate: Material and design of the flow plates plays a major role in the performance of the PEMFC. Metallic-based bipolar
flow plates exhibit several advantages over graphite-based ones including higher strength, lower manufacturing cost and better
electrical conductivity. The major drawback of the metal-based flow plates is the tendency to corrode in the PEM fuel cell
environment. Development of high corrosion resistance flow plates is essential and attractive for all researchers in the PEM fuel
cell area.

Finally, PEM fuel cell technology is still undergoing intense development. The combination of innovative and optimized
materials, novel fabrication process and design optimization can effectively lead to major gains in terms of performance, efficiency,
durability, manufacturability, and cost-effectiveness.
The design and development process of this technology cannot be completed without engaging the computational modeling
tools, such as CFD and FEA, that facility the design and optimization of the system, enable systematic simulations, reduce the
complete reliance on hardware prototyping and reduce development costs.

References

1. Lawlor, V., Griesser, S., Buchinger, G., et al., 2009. Review of the micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cell. J. Power Sources 193 (2), 387–399.
2. Dong, S.-K., Yun, B.-T., Lee, D.-K., 2008. Design and numerical study for 1 kW tubular SOFC APU system. ECS Trans. 12 (1), 701–706.
3. LI, X., Sabir, I., 2005. Review of bipolar plates in PEM fuel cells: Flow-field designs. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 30 (4), 359–371.
4. Carton, J.G., Olabi, A.G., 2010. Wind/hydrogen hybrid systems: Opportunity for ’Ireland's wind resource to provide consistent sustainable energy supply. Energy 35 (12),
4536–4544.
5. Bahar, B., Hobson, A.R., Kolde, J.A., Zuckerbrod, D., Ultra-thin integral composite membrane. US5547551 A, 20.08.1996.
6. Bahar, B., Hobson, A.R., Kolde, J.A., Integral composite membrane. US5599614 A, 04.08.1997.
7. Jalani, N.H., Dunn, K., Datta, R., 2005. Synthesis and characterization of Nafions-MO2 (M ¼ Zr, Si, Ti) nanocomposite membranes for higher temperature PEM fuel
cells. Electrochim. Acta 51 (3), 553–560.
8. Chen, S.Y., Han, C.C., Tsai, C.H., Huang, J., Chen-Yang, Y.W., 2007. Effect of morphological properties of ionic liquid-templated mesoporous anatase TiO2 on
performance of PEMFC with Nafion/TiO2 composite membrane at elevated temperature and low relative humidity. J. Power Sources 171 (2), 363–372.
9. Devrim, Y., Erkan, S., Baç, N., Eroglu, I., 2013. Nafion/titanium silicon oxide nanocomposite membranes for PEM fuel cells. Int. J. Energy Res. 37 (5), 435–442.
10. Devrim, Y., Devrim, H., 2015. PEM fuel cell short stack performances of silica doped nanocomposite membranes. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 40 (24), 7870–7878.
11. Kaneko, K., Takeoka, Y., Rikukawa, M., Sanui, K., 2003. Fuel cell performance using proton conducting polymers based on hydrocarbon polymers (II). In: Abs. 189,
204th Meeting.
12. Gasa, J., Wang, H., DeSousa, R., Tasaki, K., 2007. Fundamental characterization of fullerenes and their applications for proton-conducting materials in PEMFC. ECS
Trans. 11 (1), 131–141.
13. Hartnig, C., Jörissen, L., Kerres, J., Lehnert, W., Scholta, J., 2008. Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells. Cambridge: Woodhead Publishing Limited.
14. Gasteiger, H.A., Markovic, N., Ross, P.N., Cairns, E.J., 1993. Methanol electrooxidation on well-characterized platinum-ruthenium bulk alloys. J. Phys. Chem. 97 (46),
12020–12029.
15. Long, J.W., Stroud, R.M., Swider-Lyons, K.E., Rolison, D.R., 2000. How to make electrocatalysts more active for direct methanol oxidation avoid PtRu bimetallic alloys.
J. Phys. Chem. B 104 (42), 9772–9776.
16. Matsui, T., Fujiwara, K., Okanishi, T., et al., 2006. Electrochemical oxidation of CO over tin oxide supported platinum catalysts. J. Power Sources 155 (2), 152–156.
17. Shubina, T., Koper, M.T., 2002. Quantum-chemical calculations of CO and OH interacting with bimetallic surfaces. Electrochim. Acta 47 (22−23), 3621–3628.
18. Ioroi, T., Akita, T., Yamazaki, S., et al., 2006. Comparative study of carbon-supported Pt/Mo-oxide and PtRu for use as CO-tolerant anode catalysts. Electrochim. Acta 52
(2), 491–498.
19. Lebedeva, N.P., Janssen, G.J.M., 2005. On the preparation and stability of bimetallic PtMo/C anodes for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. Electrochim. Acta 51 (1),
29–40.
20. Haile, S.M., 2003. Fuel cell materials and components. Acta Mater. 51 (19), 5981–6000.
21. Nagabhushana, K.S., Weidenthaler, C., Hocevar, S., et al., 2006. Preparation, characterization and properties of Pt−Cu co-reduced and Pt-on-Cu skin type bimetallic
carbon-supported (Vulcan XC72) electrocatalysts. J. New Mater. Electrochem. Syst. 9 (2), 73.
22. Tang, J.M., Jensen, K., Waje, M., et al., 2007. High performance hydrogen fuel cells with ultralow Pt loading carbon nanotube thin film catalysts. J. Phys. Chem. C 111
(48), 17901–17904.
23. Jha, N., Ramesh, P., Bekyarova, E., et al., 2013. Functionalized single-walled carbon nanotube-based fuel cell benchmarked against US DOE 2017 technical targets. Sci.
Rep. 3, 2257.
24. Girishkumar, G., Rettker, M., Underhile, R., et al., 2005. Single-wall carbon nanotube-based proton exchange membrane assembly for hydrogen fuel cells. Langmuir
21 (18), 8487–8494.
10 Materials in PEM Fuel Cells

25. Xie, X., Yu, G., Liu, N., et al., 2012. Graphene−sponges as high-performance low-cost anodes for microbial fuel cells. Energy Environ. Sci. 5 (5), 6862.
26. Wang, Y., Cho, S., Thiedmann, R., et al., 2010. Stochastic modeling and direct simulation of the diffusion media for polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Int. J. Heat Mass
Transf. 53 (5−6), 1128–1138.
27. Ralph, T.R., 1997. Low cost electrodes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. J. Electrochem. Soc. 144 (11), 3845.
28. Benziger, J., Nehlsen, J., Blackwell, D., Brennan, T., Itescu, J., 2005. Water flow in the gas diffusion layer of PEM fuel cells. J. Memb. Sci. 261 (1−2), 98–106.
29. Pasaogullari, U., Wang, C.-Y., 2004. Two-phase transport and the role of micro-porous layer in polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Electrochim. Acta 49 (25), 4359–4369.
30. Nam, J.H., Lee, K.-J., Hwang, G.-S., Kim, C.-J., Kaviany, M., 2009. Microporous layer for water morphology control in PEMFC. Int. J. Heat Mass Transf. 52 (11−12),
2779–2791.
31. Wang, Y., Chen, K.S., Mishler, J., Cho, S.C., Adroher, X.C., 2011. A review of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: Technology, applications, and needs on
fundamental research. Appl. Energy 88 (4), 981–1007.
32. Zhang, F.-Y., Advani, S.G., Prasad, A.K., 2008. Performance of a metallic gas diffusion layer for PEM fuel cells. J. Power Sources 176 (1), 293–298.
33. Carton, J.G., Olabi, A.G., 2010. Design of experiment study of the parameters that affect performance of three flow plate configurations of a proton exchange membrane
fuel cell. Energy 35 (7), 2796–2806.
34. Wang, X.-D., Duan, Y.-Y., Yan, W.-M., Peng, X.-F., 2008. Local transport phenomena and cell performance of PEM fuel cells with various serpentine flow field designs.
J. Power Sources 175 (1), 397–407.
35. Le, A.D., Zhou, B., 2009. A generalized numerical model for liquid water in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell with interdigitated design. J. Power Sources 193 (2),
665–683.
36. Kazim, A., Liu, H.T., Forges, P., 1999. Modelling of performance of PEM fuel cells with conventional and interdigitated flow fields. J. Appl. Electrochem. 29 (12),
1409–1416.
37. Kloess, J.P., Wang, X., Liu, J., Shi, Z., Guessous, L., 2009. Investigation of bio-inspired flow channel designs for bipolar plates in proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
J. Power Sources 188 (1), 132–140.
38. Manso, A.P., Marzo, F.F., Barranco, J., Garikano, X., Garmendia Mujika, M., 2012. Influence of geometric parameters of the flow fields on the performance of a PEM fuel
cell. A review. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 37 (20), 15256–15287.
39. Tseng, C.-J., Tsai, B.T., Liu, Z.-S., et al., 2012. A PEM fuel cell with metal foam as flow distributor. Energy Convers. Manag. 62, 14–21.
40. Tsai, B.-T., Tseng, C.-J., Liu, Z.-S., et al., 2012. Effects of flow field design on the performance of a PEM fuel cell with metal foam as the flow distributor. Int. J. Hydrog.
Energy 37 (17), 13060–13066.
41. Kumar, A., Reddy, R., 2003. Modeling of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell with metal foam in the flow-field of the bipolar/end plates. J. Power Sources 114 (1),
54–62.
42. Kumar, A., Reddy, R.G., 2004. Materials and design development for bipolar/end plates in fuel cells. J. Power Sources 129 (1), 62–67.
43. Carton, J.G., Olabi, A.G., 2015. Representative model and flow characteristics of open pore cellular foam and potential use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Int. J.
Hydrog. Energy 40 (16), 5726–5738.
44. Baroutaji, A., Carton, J., Stokes, J., Olabi, A.-G., Design and development of proton exchange membrane fuel cell using open pore cellular foam as flow plate material. J.
Energy Chall. Mech. North Sea Conference & Journal LTD, 06.09.14.
45. Liu, H., Li, P., 2013. Even distribution/dividing of single-phase fluids by symmetric bifurcation of flow channels. Int. J. Heat Fluid Flow 40, 165–179.
46. Liu, H., Li, P., Van Lew, J., 2010. CFD study on flow distribution uniformity in fuel distributors having multiple structural bifurcations of flow channels. Int. J. Hydrog.
Energy 35 (17), 9186–9198.
47. Imbrioscia, G.M., Fasoli, H.J., 2014. Simulation and study of proposed modifications over straight-parallel flow field design. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 39 (16), 8861–8867.
48. Kumar, A., Reddy, R.G., 2003. Effect of channel dimensions and shape in the flow-field distributor on the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. J.
Power Sources 113 (1), 11–18.
́
49. Hontañón, E., Escudero, M.J., Bautista, C., Garcıa-Ybarra, P.L., Daza, L., 2000. Optimisation of flow-field in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells using computational
fluid dynamics techniques. J. Power Sources 86 (1−2), 363–368.
50. Mohammadi, M., Jovanovic, G.N., Sharp, K.V., 2013. Numerical study of flow uniformity and pressure characteristics within a microchannel array with triangular
manifolds. Comput. Chem. Eng. 52, 134–144.
51. Lozano, A., Valiño, L., Barreras, F., Mustata, R., 2008. Fluid dynamics performance of different bipolar plates. J. Power Sources 179 (2), 711–722.
52. Barreras, F., Lozano, A., Valiño, L., Marín, C., Pascau, A., 2005. Flow distribution in a bipolar plate of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell: experiments and numerical
simulation studies. J. Power Sources 144 (1), 54–66.
53. Wang, H., 2003. Stainless steel as bipolar plate material for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. J. Power Sources 115 (2), 243–251.
54. Wang, H., Turner, J.A., 2004. Ferritic stainless steels as bipolar plate material for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. J. Power Sources 128 (2), 193–200.
55. Li, M.C., Zeng, C.L., Luo, S.Z., et al., 2003. Electrochemical corrosion characteristics of type 316 stainless steel in simulated anode environment for PEMFC. Electrochim.
Acta 48 (12), 1735–1741.
56. Wang, Y., Northwood, D.O., 2007. Effects of O2 and H2 on the corrosion of SS316L metallic bipolar plate materials in simulated anode and cathode environments of PEM
fuel cells. Electrochim. Acta 52 (24), 6793–6798.
57. Wang, Y., Northwood, D., 2008. An investigation of commercial grade 2 titanium as a bipolar plate material for pem fuel cells. ECS Trans. 11 (18), 53–60.
58. Soma, Y., Muto, I., Hara, N., 2010. Electrochemical properties of titanium in PEFC bipolar plate environments. Mater. Trans. 51 (5), 939–947.
59. El-Enin, S.A.A., Abdel-Salam, O.E., El-Abd, H., Amin, A.M., 2008. New electroplated aluminum bipolar plate for PEM fuel cell. J. Power Sources 177 (1), 131–136.
60. Hung, Y., El-Khatib, K.M., Tawfik, H., 2006. Testing and evaluation of aluminum coated bipolar plates of pem fuel cells operating at 701 C. J. Power Sources 163 (1),
509–513.
61. Joseph, S., McClure, J.C., Sebastian, P.J., Moreira, J., Valenzuela, E., 2008. Polyaniline and polypyrrole coatings on aluminum for PEM fuel cell bipolar plates. J. Power
Sources 177 (1), 161–166.
62. Davies, D.P., Adcock, P.L., Turpin, M., Rowen, S.J., 2000. Bipolar plate materials for solid polymer fuel cells. J. Appl. Electrochem. 30 (1), 101–105.
63. Ma, L., Warthesen, S., Shores, D.A., 2000. Evaluation of materials for bipolar plates in PEMFCs. J. New Mater. Electrochem. Syst. 3, 221–228.
64. Hermann, A., Chaudhuri, T., Spagnol, P., 2005. Bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells: A review. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 30 (12), 1297–1302.
65. Pozio, A., Silva, R.F., De Francesco, M., Giorgi, L., 2003. Nafion degradation in PEFCs from end plate iron contamination. Electrochim. Acta 48 (11), 1543–1549.
66. Antunes, R.A., Oliveira, M.C.L., Ett, G., Ett, V., 2010. Corrosion of metal bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells: A review. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 35 (8), 3632–3647.
67. Tawfik, H., Hung, Y., Mahajan, D., 2007. Metal bipolar plates for PEM fuel cell − A review. J. Power Sources 163 (2), 755–767.
68. Mehta, V., Cooper, J.S., 2003. Review and analysis of PEM fuel cell design and manufacturing. J. Power Sources 114 (1), 32–53.
69. Borup, R.L., Vanderborgh, N.E., 2011. Design and testing criteria for bipolar plate materials for pem fuel cell applications. MRS Proc. 393, 151.
70. Kimble, M.C., Woodman, A.S., Anderson, E.B., 1999. American Electroplaters and Surface Finishers Society 1999. AESF SUR/FIN'99. 21–24.
71. Joseph, S., Mcclure, J., Chianelli, R., Pich, P., Sebastian, P., 2005. Conducting polymer-coated stainless steel bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cells
(PEMFC). Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 30 (12), 1339–1344.
72. Wang, Y., Northwood, D.O., 2006. An investigation into polypyrrole-coated 316L stainless steel as a bipolar plate material for PEM fuel cells. J. Power Sources 163 (1),
500–508.
73. Show, Y., 2007. Electrically conductive amorphous carbon coating on metal bipolar plates for PEFC. Surf. Coat. Technol. 202 (4−7), 1252–1255.
 Materials in PEM Fuel Cells 11

74. Feng, K., Cai, X., Sun, H., Li, Z., Chu, P.K., 2010. Carbon coated stainless steel bipolar plates in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Diam. Relat. Mater. 19 (11),
1354–1361.
75. Feng, K., Li, Z., Sun, H., et al., 2013. C/CrN multilayer coating for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell metallic bipolar plates. J. Power Sources 222, 351–358.
76. Wang, W.-L., He, S.-M., Lan, C.-H., 2012. Protective graphite coating on metallic bipolar plates for PEMFC applications. Electrochim. Acta 62, 30–35.
77. Mawdsley, J.R., Carter, J.D., Wang, X., et al., 2013. Composite-coated aluminum bipolar plates for PEM fuel cells. J. Power Sources 231, 106–112.
78. Fu, Y., Hou, M., Xu, H., et al., 2008. Ag−polytetrafluoroethylene composite coating on stainless steel as bipolar plate of proton exchange membrane fuel cell. J. Power
Sources 182 (2), 580–584.
79. Hentall, P.L., Lakeman, J.B., Mepsted, G.O., Adcock, P.L., Moore, J.M., 1999. New materials for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell current collectors. J. Power
Sources 80 (1−2), 235–241.
80. Zhang, L., Duan, L., Guo, Z., et al., 2011. TiN-coated titanium as the bipolar plate for PEMFC by multi-arc ion plating. Int J Hydrog. Energy 36, 9155–9161. SRC - G.
81. Ren, Z., Zhang, D., Wang, Z., 2012. Stacks with TiN/titanium as the bipolar plate for PEMFCs. Energy 48 (1), 577–581.
82. Cho, E.A., Jeon, U.-S., Hong, S.-A., Oh, I.-H., Kang, S.-G., 2005. Performance of a 1kW-class PEMFC stack using TiN-coated 316 stainless steel bipolar plates. J. Power
Sources 142 (1−2), 177–183.
83. Wang, Y., Northwood, D.O., 2007. An investigation into TiN-coated 316L stainless steel as a bipolar plate material for PEM fuel cells. J. Power Sources 165 (1),
293–298.
84. TIAN, R., SUN, J., WANG, L., 2006. Plasma-nitrided austenitic stainless steel 316L as bipolar plate for PEMFC. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 31 (13), 1874–1878.
85. Nam, N.D., Kim, J.G., Hwang, W.-S., 2009. Effect of bias voltage on the electrochemical properties of TiN coating for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. Thin Solid
Films 517 (17), 4772–4776.
86. Jeon, W.-S., Kim, J.-G., Kim, Y.-J., Han, J.-G., 2008. Electrochemical properties of TiN coatings on 316L stainless steel separator for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel
cell. Thin Solid Films 516 (11), 3669–3672.
87. Wu, B., Fu, Y., Xu, J., Lin, G., Hou, M., 2009. Chromium nitride films on stainless steel as bipolar plate for proton exchange membrane fuel cell. J. Power Sources 194
(2), 976–980.
88. Yang, B., Brady, M.P., Wang, H., et al., 2007. Protective nitride formation on stainless steel alloys for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates. J. Power
Sources 174 (1), 228–236.
89. Brady, M.P., Yang, B., Wang, H., et al., 2006. The formation of protective nitride surfaces for PEM fuel cell metallic bipolar plates. JOM 58 (8), 50–57.
90. Toops, T.J., Brady, M.P., Tortorelli, P.F., et al., 2010. Pre-oxidized and nitrided stainless steel alloy foil for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates. Part 2:
Single-cell fuel cell evaluation of stamped plates. J. Power Sources 195 (17), 5619–5627.
91. Brady, M.P., Wang, H., Turner, J.A., et al., 2010. Pre-oxidized and nitrided stainless steel alloy foil for proton exchange membrane fuel cell bipolar plates: Part 1.
Corrosion, interfacial contact resistance, and surface structure. J. Power Sources 195 (17), 5610–5618.
92. Barranco, J., Barreras, F., Lozano, A., et al., 2010. Cr and Zr/Cr nitride CAE-PVD coated aluminum bipolar plates for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. Int. J.
Hydrog. Energy 35 (20), 11489–11498.
93. Barranco, J., Barreras, F., Lozano, A., Maza, M., 2011. Influence of CrN-coating thickness on the corrosion resistance behaviour of aluminium-based bipolar plates. J.
Power Sources 196 (9), 4283–4289.
94. Hung, Y., Tawfik, H., Mahajan, D., 2009. Durability and characterization studies of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell’s coated aluminum bipolar plates and membrane
electrode assembly. J. Power Sources 186 (1), 123–127.
95. Yang, L., Yu, H., Jiang, L., et al., 2010. Improved anticorrosion properties and electrical conductivity of 316L stainless steel as bipolar plate for proton exchange
membrane fuel cell by lower temperature chromizing treatment. J. Power Sources 195 (9), 2810–2814.
96. Bai, C.-Y., Ger, M.-D., Wu, M.-S., 2009. Corrosion behaviors and contact resistances of the low-carbon steel bipolar plate with a chromized coating containing carbides
and nitrides. Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 34 (16), 6778–6789.
97. Bai, C.-Y., Wen, T.-M., Huang, M.-S., et al., 2010. Surface modification and performance of inexpensive Fe-based bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel
cells. J. Power Sources 195 (17), 5686–5691.
98. Wang, H., Turner, J.A., 2007. SnO2:F coated ferritic stainless steels for PEM fuel cell bipolar plates. J. Power Sources 170 (2), 387–394.
99. Wang, H., Turner, J.A., Li, X., Bhattacharya, R., 2007. SnO2:F coated austenite stainless steels for PEM fuel cell bipolar plates. J. Power Sources 171 (2), 567–574.
100. Wang, H., Turner, J.A., Li, X., Teeter, G., 2008. Process modification for coating SnO2:F on stainless steels for PEM fuel cell bipolar plates. J. Power Sources 178 (1),
238–247.
101. Kim, K.M., Kim, J.H., Lee, Y.Y., Kim, K.Y., 2012. Electrodeposition of ruthenium oxide on ferritic stainless steel bipolar plate for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.
Int. J. Hydrog. Energy 37 (2), 1653–1660.