Capillary pressures in carbon paper gas diffusion layers having hydrophilic and hydrophobic pores

Capillary pressures in a carbon paper gas diffusion layer (GDL) having hydrophilic and hydrophobic pores of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) are investigated by both lattice Boltzmann simulations and experimental measurements. The simulated and measured capillary pressures as a function of water saturation for water drainage and imbibition processes in the GDL are presented and compared. It is shown that the pore-scale simulated drainage and imbibition capillary pressure curves are in good agreement with that obtained by experiment, both indicating the coexistence of hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties in the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) treated carbon paper GDLs. The fitted capillary pressure curves, obtained from this paper, can provide more accurate predictions of the capillary pressure in carbon paper GDLs with non-uniform porosity and wettability than the standard Leverett-Udell relationship which was obtained for soil with more uniform porosity and wettability.