Application of water barrier layers in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell for improved water management at low humidity conditions Mauricio Blanco a,b,c, *, David P. Wilkinson a,b,c, **, Haijiang Wang c a Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z3 b Clean Energy Research Center, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z3 c Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation, National Research Council of Canada, 4250 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1W5 article info Article history: Received 21 October 2010 Received in revised form 26 November 2010 Accepted 20 December 2010 Available online 21 January 2011 Keywords: Water management Proton exchange membrane fuel cell Dry condition Durability Gas diffusion layer Stainless steel perforated sheets abstract This study discusses the use of an additional layer in the cathode side of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) for improved water management at dry conditions. The performance of fuel cells deteriorates significantly when low to no gas humidification is used. This study demonstrates that adding a non-porous material with perforations, such as stainless steel, between the cathode flow field plate and the gas diffusion layer (GDL) improves the water saturation in the cathode GDL and catalyst layer, increases the water content in the anode, and keeps the membrane hydrated. The slight voltage drop in the performance as a result of transport limitations is justifiable since the overall durability of the cell at these extreme conditions is enhanced. The results show that the perforated layer(s) enhances the operational life of the PEMFC under completely dry conditions. These extreme conditions (dry gases without humidification, 90 kPa, 75  C) were used to accel- erate the failure modes in the fuel cells. Copyright ª 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Large-scale commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) faces a number of challenges including efficiency, cost, reliability, and durability [1e3]. In addition, a number of applications (e.g., portable back-up power, mate- rial handling, automotive, etc.) require these fuel cell systems to perform efficiently with restricted space limitations [4,5]. Therefore, it is critical for fuel cell systems to perform at conditions in which additional equipment (i.e., balance of plants) can be significantly reduced. One way of performing this task is to run the system at reduced or zero relative humidity (RH) conditions. This will eliminate the use of humidification systems currently used to humidify the reactant gases in order to maintain the necessary hydration level inside the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) for proton conductivity [6]. These humidification systems not only require heat and water supplies, which decreases the overall power density and effi- ciency of the system, but also account for a significant fraction of system’s volume, weight, and cost. However, removing these systems is challenging because the durability and reliability of the overall fuel cell system are normally adversely affected. * Corresponding author. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z3. Tel.: þ1 604 827 3190; fax: þ1 604 822 6003. ** Corresponding author. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada V6T 1Z3. Tel.: þ1 604 822 4888; fax: þ1 604 822 6003. E-mail addresses: mblanco@chbe.ubc.ca (M. Blanco), dwilkinson@chbe.ubc.ca (D.P. Wilkinson). Available at www.sciencedirect.com journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/he international journal of hydrogen energy 36 (2011) 3635 e3648 0360-3199/$ e see front matter Copyright ª 2011, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.12.108