A novel full-field experimental method to measure the local compressibility of gas diffusion media

The gas diffusion medium (GDM) in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell needs to simultaneously satisfy the requirements of transporting reactant gases, removing product water, conducting electrons and heat, and providing mechanical support to the membrane electrode assembly (MEA). Concerning the localized over-compression which may force carbon fibers and other conductive debris into the membrane to cause fuel cell failure by electronically shorting through the membrane, we have developed a novel full-field experimental method to measure the local thickness and compressibility of GDM. Applying a uniform air pressure upon a thin polyimide film bonded on the top surface of the GDM with support from the bottom by a flat metal substrate and measuring the thickness change using the 3-D digital image correlation technique with an out-of-plane displacement resolution less than 0.5 μm, we have determined the local thickness and compressive stress/strain behavior in the GDM. Using the local thickness and compressibility data over an area of 11.2 mm × 11.2 mm, we numerically construct the nominal compressive response of a commercial Toray™ TGP-H-060 based GDM subjected to compression by flat platens. Good agreement in the nominal stress/strain curves from the numerical construction and direct experimental flat-platen measurement confirms the validity of the methodology proposed in this article. The result shows that a nominal pressure of 1.4 MPa compressed between two flat platens can introduce localized compressive stress concentration of more than 3 MPa in up to 1% of the total area at various locations from several hundred micrometers to 1 mm in diameter. We believe that this full-field experimental method can be useful in GDM material and process development to reduce the local hard spots and help to mitigate the membrane shorting failure in PEM fuel cells.