Impact of cyclic mechanical compression on the electrical contact resistance between the gas diffusion layer and the bipolar plate of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

RENEWABLE ENERGY

卷:153

Article

Bouziane, Khadidja^1,2,3,4  Khetabi, El Mahdi^1,2,3,4  Lachat, Remy^3,4,5  Zamel, Nada⁶  Meyer, Yann^2,3  Candusso, Denis^1,4 

[1] Univ Paris Saclay, SATIE Syst & Applicat Technol Informat & Energie, ENS Paris Saclay, CNRS,Univ Gustave Eiffel, F-94235 Cachan, France

[2] Sorbonne Univ, Univ Technol Compiegne, CNRS, FRE Roberval 2012,Ctr Rech Royallieu, CS 60 319, F-60203 Compiegne, France

[3] Univ Bourgogne Franche Comte, UTBM Bat F,Rue Thierry Mieg, F-90010 Belfort, France

[4] FR FCLAB FR CNRS 3539, Plateforme Pile Combustible, UTBM Bat F,Rue Thierry Mieg, F-90010 Belfort, France

[5] Univ Bourgogne Franche Comte, CNRS, ICB UMR 6303, UTBM, Belfort, France

[6] Fraunhofer Inst Solar Energy Syst ISE, Freiburg, Germany

关键词: Fuel cell;    Gas diffusion layer;    Bipolar plate;    Electrical contact resistance;    Cyclic compression;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.renene.2020.02.033

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

The electrical contact resistance between the Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) and the BiPolar Plate (BPP) used in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel cells (PEMFCs) is responsible for a substantial amount of Ohmic losses in the electrical power generator. This contact resistance was measured for a variety of carbon paper GDLs under cyclic mechanical compression between 0 and 8 MPa according to the Transmission Line Method (TLM). Contact resistance and strain hysteresis were noticed as a result of cyclic compression. The effect of GDL structure and composition on the electrical contact resistance and its cyclic behaviour has been evaluated. The contact resistance was found to decrease non-linearly with compression; more than 75% of reduction was attained at 2.5 MPa. The electrical contact resistance's difference between the different cycles of compression decreased with compression loads. Graphitised straight fibre Toray GDLs demonstrated the smallest contact resistance followed by the MicroPorous Layer (MPL) and the felt fibre substrate. The SGL straight fibre substrates exhibited the highest contact resistance. The felt fibre structure exhibited the smallest difference rates between the cycles of compression. (C) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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