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The latest paper on water management of polymer electrolyte fuel cells, co-authored by Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²ÊÖÐÌØÍø Centre for Nature Inspired Engineering (CNIE) and Electrochemical Innovation Lab (EIL), has been published in . This project was led by Dr Rhodri Jervis and Shangwei Zhou (EIL), with important contribution from Prof Marc-Oliver Coppens, Dr Panagiotis Trogadas and PhD Student Linlin Xu (CNIE).

‘Effects of an easy-to-implement water management strategy on performance and degradation of polymer electrolyte fuel cells’ - In this study, the impact of intermittent switching between wet and dry reactant gases during polymer electrolyte fuel cell operation was examined for enhanced performance stability and mitigation of flooding effects by regulating water content. Two relative humidity control strategies were investigated, using electrochemical performance and MEA degradation as critical indicators. It was found that intermittent switching between wet and dry gases does not accelerate fuel cell degradation if the duration of the dry gas period is set reasonably (dry gases stops before the voltage reaches the apex of the hump). Additionally, current and temperature distribution mapping was utilised to capture the dynamic response between these transitional stages. The switching of dry gases first makes the current density distribution homogeneous, and the maximum current density is reduced subsequently. Then, the current density near the inlet keeps decreasing. Intermittent switching between wet and dry reactant gases is easy to implement and overcomes limitations in mass transfer at medium and high current densities.

References: S. Zhou, L. Xu, P. Trogadas, L. Rasha, W. Du, P. R. Shearing, M.-O. Coppens, D. J.L. Brett, R. Jervis, 2023, Effects of an easy-to-implement water management strategy on performance and degradation of polymer electrolyte fuel cells, Journal of Power Sources, DOI: 10.1016/j.jpowsour.2023.233184 []