Micro fluidic structure selection of metal mesh combinations in proton exchange membrane fuel cells for air supply enhancement

One of the most significant factors affecting the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell is the flow path for the passage of air and water, which is responsible for oxygen dispersion. A three-dimensional fine mesh, with optimized flow paths, exhibits the best performance in commercialized fuel cell electric vehicles, but the manufacturing cost is significantly high. To achieve high performance at a lower cost, the possibility of using a combination of commercially available screen meshes was investigated. The overlapped screen meshes should provide improved mass transport similar to a 3-D fine mesh. By using an optimized combination of screen meshes (200 and 100 mesh) and gasket thickness (150 μm thinner than the mesh flow field), an improvement in oxygen mass transport was achieved. The suggested combination shows a lower oxygen gain (0.030 V) than a single mesh (0.050 V) and a conventional single serpentine flow field (0.150 V).