Sensitivity Study of Operating Conditions and Liquid Water Transport Behavior in an AEMFC Aided by Modeling and Neutron Radiography

Published

June 1, 2025

Author(s)

Mrittunjoy Sarker, Felipe Mojica, Ami Neyerlin, Bryan Pivovar, Daniel Hussey, Jacob LaManna, David Jacobson, Po-Ya Chuang

Abstract

Two types of anion exchange ionomers, powder and dispersion, are studied in this work. The gas diffusion electrode (GDE) with the dispersion-type ionomer exhibits strong hydrophobicity, thus not enabling sufficient ionic exchange during the potassium hydroxide exchange process, which in turn exhibits very poor performance. Hence we use GDE prepared with the powder-type ionomer to study the sensitivity and effect of reactant concentration and operating conditions on anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC) performance. The results indicate that AEMFC performance is most sensitive to relative humidity followed by hydrogen concentration. In contrast, oxygen is not a major performance limiting factor validated by oxygen reactant sensitivity analysis. Results from neutron imaging experiments demonstrate active water transport from cathode to anode through electro-osmotic drag is very active, which results in flooding on the anode side causing signifi cant reduction of cell performance. The combined experimental and neutron results provide valuable insights on the AEMFC water management strategies for improving cell performance stability, which has a signifi cant impact towards the development of AEMFC technology.

Citation

Energy Conversion and Management

Volume

333

Pub Type

Journals

Download Paper

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2025.119750

Local Download

Keywords

Anion exchange membrane fuel cell, AEMFC, AEM, Fuel cell experiments, AEMFC modeling, Transport resistance, Water ooding, Neutron radiography.

Citation

Sarker, M. , Mojica, F. , Neyerlin, A. , Pivovar, B. , Hussey, D. , LaManna, J. , Jacobson, D. and Chuang, P. (2025), Sensitivity Study of Operating Conditions and Liquid Water Transport Behavior in an AEMFC Aided by Modeling and Neutron Radiography, Energy Conversion and Management, [online], https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2025.119750, https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=959194 (Accessed October 10, 2025)