Parameter Estimates for a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Cathode

Abstract: Five parameters of a model of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell cathode (the porosity of the gas diffusion layer, the porosity of the catalyst layer, the exchange current density of the oxygen reduction reaction, the effective ionic conductivity of the electrolyte, and the ratio of the effective diffusion coefficient of oxygen in a flooded spherical agglomerate particle to the squared particle radius) were determined by the least square fitting of experimental polarization curves. The values of parameters obtained in this work indicate that ionic conduction and gas-phase transport are two processes significantly influencing the performance of PEMFC air cathodes. While ionic conduction influences cathode performance over a wide range of current densities, gas-phase transport influences cathode performance only at high current densities.