Effect of carbon fiber cloth with different structure on the performance of low temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells

This study uses fuel cell gas diffusion layers (GDLs) fabricated in the laboratory from carbon fiber cloth with different structure in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), and investigates the relationship between the structure of the carbon fiber cloth and fuel cell performance.The paper discusses the relationship between fuel cell performance and structure of the carbon fiber cloth, and also examines the effect of the carbon fiber cloth’s thickness, air permeability, surface resistivity, XRD and elemental analysis. Carbon fiber cloth is carbonized at rates of 190, 220, 250, 280, and 310 °C min−1 respectively, and the resulting carbon fiber cloth is tested in cells. When the test piece area is 25 cm2, the test temperature 40 °C, the gasket thickness 0.36 mm, and the carbonization rate 280 °C min−1, a fuel cell using the carbon fiber cloth achieves a current density of 1968 mA cm−2 and a maximum power density of 633 mW cm−2 at 0.3 V.