Performance variation of bendable polymer electrolyte fuel cell based on Ag nanowire current collector under mixed bending and twisting load

The bendable fuel cell based on polydimethylsiloxane and Ag nanowire current collectors was fabricated and characterized as it is subject to mixed bending and twisting load. The power density of the fuel cell decreased with the increasing twisting angle regardless of the application of bending. However, the fuel cell with the bending component showed higher power densities than that without bending in all twisting angles. By calculating the stress distribution inside the fuel cell using finite-element method, it was found that the higher performance in the bendable fuel cell under both bending and twisting load is due to the stronger compressive stress on a membrane-electrode assembly induced by the bending load. From electrochemical impedance investigation, it was visualized that although the twisting load increases both electrolyte and electrode resistances, this effect seems to be canceled by the bending, leading to the increased performance.