An analytical model for hydrogen alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cell

•An analytical model for alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cell is developed.•Cathode humidification is critical, especially at low operating temperatures.•Proper Liquid humidification for cathode improves the performance.•Increasing operating pressure leads to less cathode water vapor supply.•Decreasing membrane or CL thickness reduces both ohmic and activation losses.

An analytical model for hydrogen alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AAEMFC) is developed in this study. The results show that due to both the electrochemical reaction and electro-osmotic drag, water in cathode is consumed faster than oxygen. Proper liquid humidification in cathode is favorable for performance improvement, especially at low operating temperatures; on the other hand, without liquid humidification, high reactant flow rate is needed. If there is no liquid humidification and the oxygen stoichiometry ratio is fixed, a higher operating pressure increases both the activation loss and ohmic loss, leading to lower cell performance. With the increment of catalyst layer (CL) thickness, the reactant concentration in CL decreases, and the ohmic resistance of electron and ion increases. Decreasing the membrane thickness reduces both the ohmic resistance and activation loss, because more water can transfer from anode to cathode.