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Due to stringent environmental regulations and the limited resources of fossil-based fuels, there is an urgent demand for clean and eco-friendly energy conversion devices. These criteria appear to be met by hydrogen proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). PEMFCs have attracted tremendous attention on account of their excellent performance with tunable operability and good portability. Nonetheless, their practical applications are hugely influenced by the scarcity and high cost of platinum (Pt) used as electrocatalysts at both cathode and anode. Pt is also susceptible to easy catalyst poisoning. Herein, this paper reviews the progress of the research regarding the development of electrocatalysts practically used in hydrogen PEMFCs, where the corner-stone reactions are cathodic oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and anodic hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR). To reduce the costs of PEMFCs, lessening or eliminating the use of Pt is of prime importance. For current and forthcoming laboratory/large-scale PEMFCs, there is much interest in developing substitute catalysts based on cheaper materials. As such are non-platinum (non-Pt), non-platinum group metals (non-PGMs), metal oxides, and non-metal electrocatalysts. Hence, high-performance, state-of-the-art, and novel structured electrocatalysts as replacements for Pt are needed.

In a proton-exchange membrane water-electrolysis system, performance is greatly affected by the anode materials and operation modes. Moreover, high voltages allow greater hydrogen production as well as the potential of creating ozone for green disinfection. However, after switching off power and restarting, a big decrease in performance drop as well as hydrogen/ozone generation. In this study, different additives—multi-wall carbon nanotubes, surface-modification graphene, reduction graphene oxide, and graphene oxide—are adopted and mixed with PbO2 and to create anode catalyst ink. The characteristics of the anode catalysts are investigated with voltage-current test, interruptive power supply, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and high voltage accelerating tests. The results show that the anode of MEA with additive, multi-wall carbon nanotubes or multi-wall carbon nanotubes plus surface-modification graphene, lead to twice higher performance. Further, anode of MEA with additive, multi-wall carbon nanotubes, multi-wall carbon nanotubes plus graphene oxide, and multi-wall carbon nanotubes plus reduction graphene oxide, displays better restoration (34–36%↓).

Bimetallic PtPd nanowires are produced by the centrifugal electrospinning method and their application as electrocatalysts in the cathode of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is evaluated. The effects of system parameters on the morphology of PtPd nanowires after calcination are explored including the rotation speed of spinneret, applied electric field, and atomic ratio of Pt and Pd in the composition. Cyclic voltammetry tests are conducted to characterize the electrochemical property and the produced PtPd nanowires are employed to fabricate the cathode catalyst layer in a PEMFC. The cell performance is measured and compared with commercial Pt/C electrocatalysts. Results show that bimetallic PtPd nanowires can be produced successfully with minimum mean diameter of 79 ± 24 nm and maximum electrochemical active surface area (ECSA) of 10.29 m 2 g − 1 at the atomic ratio Pt:Pd = 3:1. By the accelerated degradation tests, the PtPd nanowires demonstrate better durability than Pt/C. The present results reveal that the centrifugal electrospinning method can successfully fabricate PtPd nanowires which have great potential to be utilized in PEMFCs.

This study analyzes the characteristic numerical analysis of membrane electrode assembly in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) with bipolar plate, flow channel, gas diffusion electrode, and proton exchange membrane. The numerical solution focuses on discussing the effects of different parameters, including permeability, porosity, and operation voltage, on various mass fractions, current-voltage curve, and power-voltage curve. The results show that as the porous medium with high gas permeability is an important factor that affects the mass fraction of hydrogen. Regarding the analyses of various porosities, the fuel cell performance can be effectively promoted with larger ratio of porosity and permeability. However, increasing the porosity will affect the electrical conductivity and increase the flooding of water, which will block the flow channel and reduce efficiency.

The supply of species gases and removal of liquid water in a PEM fuel cell are performed through gas flow channels. Therefore, optimising the flow channel configurations is critical for maximising performance of fuel cells. In this paper, the ANSYS PEM Fuel Cell Module is used to simulate a PEM fuel cell with an active area of 100 cm2 and four different flow channel configurations: single-channel serpentine, two-channel serpentine, three-channel serpentine, and parallel channel with headers under two set of different operating conditions. Under both sets of operating conditions, the simulation results indicated that 3-channel serpentine configuration has the best performance due to uniform distribution of species gases over the catalyst layer. It was concluded from the simulation results that the pressure-drop along the 3-channel serpentine configuration is less compared to other serpentine channel configurations, which will require less power for the blowing in of the species gases. The results obtained from simulation under more optimal operating conditions (set 2) used by Hwang’s URFC, predicted increase in the performance of all the four channel configurations compared to the set 1 operating conditions due to higher cell temperature and stichometry of inlet gases. Under set 2 operating conditions, the values of pressure drop across all the channel configurations have increased substantially due to higher flow rates of inlet gases.

This article is a careful examination of an energy poly-generation unit integrated with an evacuated solar thermal tube collector. A proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis unit is used for hydrogen production, an ejector refrigeration system (ERS) is utilized for cooling demand, and a heater unit is used for heating demand. All sub-systems are validated by considering recent articles. Cooling and heating demand, as well as the net output power are calculated. The modeled poly-generation system's exergy and energy efficiency are maximized by considering the inlet temperature of the heat exchanger and primary pressure of the ejector with the parametric evaluation of the system. The proposed poly-generation set-up can produce cooling load, heating load, and hydrogen with amounts of 5.34 kW, 5.152 kW, and 63 kg/year, respectively. Based on these values, the energy efficiency, and exergy efficiency are computed to be 64.14%, and 49.62%, respectively. Higher energy and exergy efficiencies are obtained by reducing high pressure of the refrigeration cycle or decreasing the temperature outlet of an auxiliary heater. The heat exchanger and thermal energy storage unit have the highest cost rate among all system components with 73,463 $ and 46,357, respectively. Parametric study indicates that the main determinative elements in the total cost rate of the system are the heater, and the solar collector.

In the current work, thermodynamic examination for cogeneration of electricity and cooling based on a polymer exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell was carried out. To the waste energy in the fuel cell, an absorption refrigeration unit is employed in two modes with ejector and without ejector. This system includes a PEM-FC, an absorption refrigeration unit, a hydrogen storage tank, an ejector, and an air compressor. The produced thermal energy in the fuel cell is received entirely by a working fluid and is given to the absorption chiller generator. The system simulation was carried out from two perspectives of energy and fuel saving. Findings showed that the energy efficiency of the combined cooling and power (CCP) unit and the CCP system equipped with the ejector (CCP-E) was 63.72% and 78.33%, respectively. It indicated that adding the ejector to the system increases the energy efficiency of the system by 23%. The fuel economy percentages of the CCP system and CCP-E were 44.43% and 45.9%, respectively. The results also showed that adding the ejector in the refrigeration system increases the system performance by up to 44%. The presence of the ejector causes the working fluid flow in the evaporator to increase with the suction of the secondary flow, and the cooling capacity increases significantly. Moreover, with increasing generator and evaporator pressure, the suction ratio of the cooling system equipped with the ejector decreases and increases, respectively.

A 1+1-dimensional(1+1D) multiphase model of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is developed to simulate the dynamic behaviors of the fuel cell under various operating conditions. Electrochemical, fluidic, and thermal physical phenomena are taken into account, and the model can accurately describe the multi-physical processes inside the PEMFC. Meanwhile, the water phase change and nitrogen crossover are also considered in this model. The developed model can simulate the fuel cell behaviors in both normal temperature and cold start conditions. Selection of the time step size is discussed, and the solution method of the real-time model is proposed. Computational efficiency is greatly improved by simplifying the multicomponent diffusion inside the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which results in the shorter calculation time than the simulated physical time. The proposed model is suitable for embedded applications, such as real-time simulation or online diagnostic control. The comprehensive model validation is carried out by comparing the simulation results, including polarization curves, ohmic resistance, local current density distribution, and voltage evolution, under various working conditions of steady state, load change, and cold start, and a good agreement is achieved. Finally, some simulation cases are studied to further demonstrate the simulation ability of the model.

As a promising alternative to petroleum fossil energy, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell has drawn considerable attention due to its low pollution emission, high energy density, portability, and long operation times. Proton exchange membrane (PEM) like Nafion plays an essential role as the core of fuel cell. A good PEM must have satisfactory performance such as high proton conductivity, excellent mechanical strength, electrochemical stability, and suitable for making membrane electrode assemblies (MEA). However, performance degradation and high permeability remain the main shortcomings of Nafion. Therefore, the development of a new PEM with better performance in some special conditions is greatly desired. In this review, we aim to summarize the latest achievements in improving the Nafion performance that works well under elevated temperature or methanol-fueled systems. The methods described in this article can be divided into some categories, utilizing hydrophilic inorganic material, metal-organic frameworks, nanocomposites, and ionic liquids. In addition, the mechanism of proton conduction in Nafion membranes is discussed. These composite membranes exhibit some desirable characteristics, but the development is still at an early stage. In the future, revolutionary approaches are needed to accelerate the application of fuel cells and promote the renewal of energy structure.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are considered emerging materials as they further improve the various properties of polymer membranes used in energy applications, ranging from electrochemical storage and purification of hydrogen to proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Herein, we fabricate composite membranes consisting of polybenzimidazole (PBI) polymer as a matrix and MOFs as filler. Synthesis of ZIF-8 and UiO-66 MOFs are conducted through a typical solvothermal method, and composite membranes are fabricated with different MOF compositions (e.g., 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, and 10.0 wt %). We report a significant improvement in proton conductivity compared with the pristine PBI; for example, more than a three-fold increase in conductivity is observed when the PBI-UiO66 (10.0 wt %) and PBI-ZIF8 (10.0 wt %) membranes are tested at 160 °C. Proton conductivities of the composite membranes vary between 0.225 and 0.316 S cm−1 at 140 and 160 °C. For the comparison, pure PBI exhibits 0.060 S cm−1 at 140 °C and 0.083 S cm−1 at 160 °C. However, we also report a decrease in permeability and mechanical stability with the composite membranes.

As the problem of energy crisis and environmental pollution increases seriously, research on clean energy is attracting more and more attention. As one of the most popular clean energy, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) have been quickly promoted due to their excellent performance, while the corresponding modelling and simulation is hardly expressed compared to previous study on its performance. In this paper, we introduced a structure of closed PEMFC used in the air-starved environment, which is rarely explored compared to the common air-exposed pattern. We establish the dynamic model of PEMFC and the mathematical model of the closed PEMFC gas supply system to explore its working principle, and conduct simulation verification through MATLAB/Simulink platform.

The performance and operation stability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are closely related to the transportation of reactants and water management in the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and flow field. In this paper, a new three-dimensional wave parallel flow field (WPFF) in cathode was designed and analyzed throughout simulation studies and an experimental method. The experimental results show that the performance of PEMFC with WPFF outperforms that of PEMFC with straight parallel flow field (SPFF). Specifically, the peak power density increased by 13.45% for the PEMFC with WPFF as opposed to PEMFC with SPFF. In addition, the flow field with area of 11.56 cm2 was formed by the assembly of transparent end plate used for cathode and the traditional graphite plate used for anode. To understand the mechanism of the novel flow field improving the performance of PEMFC, a model of PEMFC was proposed based on the geometry, operating conditions and MEA parameters. The thickness of gas diffusion layers (GDL), catalytic layers (CL) and proton exchange membrane were measured by scanning electron microscope. The simulation result shows that compared with SPFF, the WPFF based PEMFC promote the oxygen transfer from flow channel to the surface of CL through GDL, and it was beneficial to remove the liquid water in the flow channel and the MEA.

Although many studies have been done on finding operating conditions of hydrogen-fed fuel cells before, it remains one of the most critical points in determining its parameters in the process. So this paper aims to investigate experimentally the reactant gases flow rate and cell voltage which have a significant impact on the current density of a 3-cell Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell stack having a 150 cm2 active layer. In this case, to determine the optimum values, Design of Experiment and Response Surface Methodology was applied to the experimental system at low 1.5 V, medium 1.8 V, and high 2.1 V. Then, they were compared with each other. In this context, keeping the hydrogen flow rate low and obtaining high current density is one of the main targets; at low voltage values, it was concluded that the flow rate should be increased due to the reaction rate increases with temperature. In general, the effect of humidification and cell temperature on performance was seen more prominently at 1.8 V. The highest current density values that were 313.66 mA/cm2, 336.75 mA/cm2, and 323.48 mA/cm2, respectively, were reached at flow rates of 1 L/min,1.3 L/min,1.6 L/min.

Highly active and durable electrocatalysts towards oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) are imperative for the commercialization application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. By manipulating ligand effect, structural control, and strain effect, we report here the precise preparation of Mo-doped Pt3Co alloy nanowires (Pt3Co-Mo NWs) as the efficient catalyst towards ORR with high specific activity (0.596 mA cm−2) and mass activity (MA, 0.84 A mg−1Pt), much higher than those of undoped counterparts. Besides activity, Pt3Co-Mo NWs also demonstrate excellent structural stability and cyclic durability even after 50,000 cycles, again surpassing control samples without Mo dopants. According to the strain maps and DFT calculations, Mo dopants could modify the electronic structure of both Pt and Co to achieve not only optimized oxygen-intermediate binding energy on the interface but also increased the vacancy formation energy of Co, together leading to enhanced activity and durability. This work provides not only a facile methodology but also an in-depth investigation of the relationship between structure and properties to provide general guidance for future design and optimization.

Roll-to-roll (R2R) slot-die coating of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) catalyst layers represents a scalable deposition method for producing 10-20 m2·min-1 of catalyst-coated gas diffusion layers (GDLs). This high-throughput production technique will help lower the cost of PEMFC catalyst layers. The uniformity of the wet layer applied by slot die deposition is affected by process parameters such as substrate speed, vacuum pressure applied at the upstream meniscus, gap between the slot die lips and substrate, ink rheology, and other ink and substrate properties. The set of conditions for producing a defect-free coating with a dilute ink typically requires little to no upstream vacuum pressure, so suitable operating conditions can be found easily through trial and error and operator intuition. However, the higher viscosity of more concentrated inks dramatically shifts the range of settings that result in a homogeneous coating to higher vacuum levels, which are harder to find through hit or miss. A predictive model showing the range of operable conditions decreases material wastage inherent in experimentally searching for suitable parameters. In this study, the defect-free coating parameter window is explored experimentally and theoretically for two concentrations of PEFC cathode inks. Both a full capillary hydrodynamic model and a computationally cheaper viscocapillary model successfully predict the experimentally determined coating window within the experimental and model uncertainty limits for inks with 5.3 wt.% and 12.0 wt.% solids ink while maintaining the 0.1 mgPt·cm-2 Pt areal loading target. This paper demonstrates a viable pathway for meeting the $30/kWnet ultimate cost target of the United States Department of Energy (U.S. DOE) Hydrogen Fuel Cells Technologies Office (HFTO). The concentrated ink lowers the thermal energy and capital expenditure (CapEx) budget of the coating process by decreasing the amount of time, energy, and floorspace required for drying the coating.

The O2 permeation barrier across the nanoscale ionomer films on electrocatalysts contributes to a major performance loss of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells under low Pt loading. Enhancing O2 transport through the ionomer films is essential for developing low Pt loading catalyst materials in high-performance PEM fuel cells. This study found that adding an ionic liquid (IL) can effectively mitigate the dense ionomer ultrathin sublayer formed on the Pt surface, which severely hinders O2 transport to the catalyst sites. The molecular dynamics simulation results show that adding the IL significantly alters the ionomer ultrathin sublayer structure by inhibiting its tight arrangement of perfluorosulfonic acid chains but scarcely impacts the ultrathin sublayer thickness. Additionally, the IL addition provides a larger free space for O2 dissolution in the ultrathin sublayer. Consequently, due to IL molecules’ presence, the O2 density in the ultrathin sublayer on the Pt surface is improved by an order of magnitude, which will benefit the catalytic efficiency, and the O2 permeation flux across the ionomer film is increased by up to 8 times, which will reduce the O2 transport loss of the catalyst layer.

Compared with hydrogen, ammonia has the advantages of high gravimetric hydrogen densities (17.8 wt.%), ease of storage and transportation as a chemical hydrogen storage medium, while its application in small-scale on-site hydrogen production scenarios is limited by the need for complex separation equipment during high purity hydrogen production. Therefore, the study of PEMFC, which can directly utilize ammonia decomposition gas, can greatly expand the application of fuel cells. In this paper, the output characteristics, fuel efficiency and the variation trend of hydrogen concentration and local current density in the anode channel of fuel cell with the output voltage of PEMFC fueled by ammonia decomposition gas were studied by experiment and simulation. The results indicate that the maximum output power of the hybrid fuel decreases by 9.6% compared with that of the pure hydrogen fuel at the same inlet hydrogen equivalent. When the molar concentration of hydrogen in the anode channel is less than 0.12, the output characteristics of PEMFC will be seriously affected. Employing ammonia decomposition gas as fuel, the efficiency corresponding to the maximum output power of PEMFC is approximately 47%, which is 10% lower than the maximum efficiency of pure hydrogen.

Here, an optimal linear parameter varying (LPV) controller is developed for non‐linear proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems. Two performance criteria are involved in the optimal controller, including the membrane pressure and the power of the PEMFC. The former should be minimized; and, the latter should be maximized. Since the goal is to derive sufficient conditions in terms of linear matrix inequality (LMI) constraints, both performances are re‐formulated and augmented in a unique convex optimization problem. Further, the non‐linear PEMFC with the equilibrium profile dependent on time‐varying parameters, that is, current and temperature, is represented by an LPV model. Using the LMI constraints and the obtained LPV model, the gains of the controller are derived. Comparing with the state‐of‐the‐art methods, the proposed approach offers an optimal control approach with a systematic design method, in which both practical issues are treated, simultaneously. To show the advantages of the developed approach, six typical controllers, including the proposed and existing approaches, are considered and several numerical simulation results are conducted.

Silica nanosheets (SN) derived from natural vermiculite (Verm) were successfully incorporated into polyethersulfone–polyvinylpyrrolidone (PES–PVP) polymer to fabricate high–temperature proton exchange membranes (HT–PEMs). The content of SN filler was varied (0.1–0.75 wt%) to study its influence on proton conductivity, power density and durability. Benefiting from the hydroxyl groups of SN that enable the formation of additional proton–transferring pathways, the inorganic–organic membrane displayed enhanced proton conductivity of 48.2 mS/cm and power density of 495 mW/cm2 at 150 °C without humidification when the content of SN is 0.25 wt%. Furthermore, exfoliated SN (E–SN) and sulfonated SN (S–SN), which were fabricated by a liquid–phase exfoliation method and silane condensation, respectively, were embedded in PES–PVP polymer matrix by a simple blending method. Due to the significant contribution from sulfonic groups in S–SN, the membrane with 0.25 wt% S–SN reached the highest proton conductivity of 51.5 mS/cm and peak power density of 546 mW/cm2 at 150 °C, 48% higher than the pristine PES–PVP membranes. Compared to unaltered PES–PVP membrane, SN added hybrid composite membrane demonstrated excellent durability for the fuel cell at 150 °C. Using a facile method to prepare 2D SN from natural clay minerals, the strategy of exfoliation and functionalization of SN can be potentially used in the production of HT–PEMs.

The hybrid sulfur (HyS) process, which is composed of SO2-depolarized electrolysis (SDE) reaction and sulfuric decomposition reaction, is one of the simplest thermochemical cycles for producing hydrogen by water splitting. SDE is currently conducted in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer. In this work, a novel PEM electrolyzer structure is proposed. Graphite felt with large void content is used as the diffusion layer. In the electrolyzer, porous graphite felt plays the role of evenly distributing fluid and conducting electricity. The gap between the polar plate and the catalytic layer is occupied by the electrolyte solution and graphite felt, which effectively reduces the ohmic impedance of the electrolyzer. The effects of the main parameters including graphite felt compression ratio, anodic fluid flow rate, and sulfuric acid concentration, as well as temperature are investigated. Under optimized operating conditions, the current density reaches 800 mA/cm2 at cell voltage of 1.094 V, which is remarkably better than reported SDE performance using conventional PEM electrolyzers.

Reducing the loading of noble Pt-based catalyst is vital for the commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). However, severe mass transfer polarization loss resulting in fuel cell performance decline will be encountered in ultra-low Pt PEMFC. In this work, mild oxidized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (mMWCNT) were adopted to construct the catalyst layer, and by varying the loading of carbon nanotubes, the catalyst layer structure was optimized. A high peak power density of 1.23 W·cm−2 for the MEA with mMWCNT was obtained at an ultra-low loading of 120 μg·cm−2 Pt/PtRu (both cathode and anode), which was 44.7% higher than that of MEA without mMWCNT. Better catalyst dispersion, low charge transfer resistance, more porous structure and high hydrophobicity of catalyst layer were ascribed for the reasons of the performance improvement.

This work addresses the issues of long-term leakage rate prediction, which is crucial for durability study of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). A theoretical model is presented for the leakage rate of compressive seal structures in PEMFCs, based on the combination of three numerical techniques, namely Lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) simulations for rough wall interfacial gaps, a numerical 3D rough-surface generation technique, and Finite-Element-Analysis (FEA) for micro-contact mechanics of single asperity. The model clearly reveals the quantitative influence of various factors on the leakage rate without any empirical regression coefficients, and therefore can be easily integrated with structural mechanics and aging mechanism analyses. Long term sealing performance comparisons with three types of rubber material identify liquid silicone rubber to have the optimal durability. When influences of water environment are taken into account, an accelerated degradation of sealing performance can be observed after approximately 3000 h of operation. In addition, the effect of stress loss on leakage rate can be effectively suppressed by reducing surface roughness, reducing gasket thickness and increasing strain level. The proposed theoretical model provides an effective approach for the design of metal-bipolar-plate PEMFCs seal structures.

Mechanical durability of hydrocarbon-based proton exchange membranes in long-term fuel cell operation is vital for their successful commercialization. Herein, a complex finite element model is developed that couples electrochemical performance of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) membrane with its mechanical response at different operating conditions to predict the susceptible sites to mechanical failure. To this end, the impacts of cell voltage (0.1–0.9 V), operating temperature (30–80 °C) and backpressure (0.3–1.5 bar), inlet reactants relative humidity (30–100%), and clamping pressure (1–5 MPa) on hydration and consequently, stress and strain formation in the SPEEK membrane are investigated. Results suggest that SPEEK membrane, particularly at the channel outlet, undergoes the greatest swelling-induced degradation when the cell is running at low voltages, high temperature and backpressure values. Clamping pressure, however, imposes compressive stress and thinning upon the land region and is the dominant factor compared to hygrothermal swelling, albeit high hydration level shifts the maximum stress to the channel region. Despite superior resistance to different hygrothermal conditions and lower chance of thinning under the clamping pressure, Nafion membrane exhibits a relatively higher risk of wrinkle deformation under compression. This study provides insights into the mechanical response of hydrocarbon-based membranes under various fuel cell conditions.

Nafion, a perfluoro-sulfonic acid (PFSA)-based polymer, is a promising material that will help realize the commercialization of proton exchange membrane-based fuel cells (PEMFCs) and proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers (PEMWEs). However, Nafion also exhibits reduced mechanical and dimensional stability and increased hydrogen crossover under cell operating conditions in real operational settings, that is, in a hydrated state or in water at 60–80 °C. These factors may negatively affect cell efficiency and durability and thus must be addressed. To overcome these limitations, polyamide-coated Nafion composite membranes were developed for the first time via interfacial polymerization. 3,5-Diaminobenzoic acid (DABA), which contains carboxyl functional groups, was used as a monomer to add hydrophilicity to the membrane, and the coating layer thickness was controlled by adjusting the DABA content. A nanoscale polyamide (PA) layer was coated on the surface of Nafion-212 to fabricate a membrane, PA-c3-Nafion. PA-c3-Nafion was found to show ion conductivity 13.6% higher than that of a pristine Nafion-212 membrane at 80 °C, while providing improved mechanical performance and dimensional stability. In particular, at 95% RH, the hydrogen permeability of PA-c3-Nafion was 16.4% lower than that of Nafion-212 while, in a fully hydrated state, the hydrogen permeability of PA-c3-Nafion was 21.2% lower than that of Nafion-212. The LSV test results also showed that the degree of hydrogen crossover was significantly lower in PA-c3-Nafion than in Nafion-212.

High-loaded oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) Pt intermetallic compounds with high performance expression under PEMFC operating conditions are prerequisite for practical application. Nevertheless, high metal-loading would lead to the severe agglomeration and nonuniformity of nanoparticles, imposing an enormous challenge on efficient synthesis. Herein we present a cobalt oxide aided structural evolution strategy to controllably synthesize high-loaded (44.7 wt%) sub-6 nm Pt1Co1 intermetallic compound with Pt-rich shell (Pt1Co1-IMC@Pt). Experiments and theory explicitly reveal that the ordered arrangement of Pt-Co atoms endows surface Pt with lowered d band centre and enhanced oxidation-resistance of Pt/Co sites, thus simultaneously boosting the ORR activity and durability. The preeminent intrinsic ORR activity on an optimized catalyst reaches a mass activity as high as 0.53 A mg(Pt)-1 @0.90V/RHE (MA@0.9 V) in rotating disk electrode measurement. PEMFCs with such a catalyst deliver the record-high power density (2.30/1.23 Wcm-2 under H2-air/O2 conditions at 80 oC) and extraordinary stability, ranking the highest fuel cell performance among the Pt-based electrocatalysts. Significantly, the MA@0.9 V calculated from fuel cell attains 0.46 A mg(Pt)-1, exceeding the 2020 DOE target (0.44 A mg(Pt)-1) and very close to the intrinsic value, definitely confirming the superiority of high-loaded Pt1Co1-IMC@Pt/C in activity expression under fuel cell conditions. This study paves a new way for the future practical application of low-Pt catalysts in PEMFCs.

Stainless steels have received wide attention as a substitute material for bipolar plates in high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC). In the present work, the CrN, CrAlN and multilayer CrN/CrAlN coatings were deposited on 316L SS to increase the corrosion resistance and decrease the interfacial contact resistance. The deposited coatings exhibited face centered cubic phase structure and it was verified from the X-ray diffraction pattern. X-ray photo electron spectroscopy results showed the formation of both CrN and CrAlN layers on 316L SS. CrN/CrAlN coating is more helpful in water management due to low surface roughness and high contact angle in the HT-PEMFC environment. The corrosion resistance behavior of all the samples were studied in 85% H3PO4 solution at 140 °C purged with H2 (HT-PEMFC anode) and O2 (HT-PEMFC cathode) gases. The results showed that all the coatings considerably improved the performance of 316L SS and superior corrosion resistance was observed for CrN/CrAlN multilayer coating, whose protective efficiency was 98.12% and 96.14% in the two simulated HT-PEMFC environments. The results of electrochemical impedance spectroscopic studies demonstrated higher impedance for CrN/CrAlN coating. Surface morphological studies performed after corrosion studies revealed that protection ability of CrN/CrAlN coating still remained acceptable. A very low interfacial contact resistance value of 6 mΩ cm2 at 140 N/cm2 was observed for CrN/CrAlN coating. Moreover, after corrosion studies, the interfacial contact resistance value of CrN/CrAlN coated 316L was much lower than that of CrN and CrAlN coatings due to the increased oxidation resistance. The maximum power density of about 0.93 W/cm2 at 2 A/cm2 and output voltage of 0.96 V was observed for CrN/CrAlN coating.

To systematically explore the low-temperature operating characteristics of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack, a three-dimensional PEMFC stack model with intake manifold is developed in this study. The characteristics of different cold start modes in the stack are compared and analyzed. The distribution and transmission characteristics of water, ice, and heat in each cell of the stack are analyzed in detail. The location of water accumulation in each cell of the stack is also explored. Finally, finite difference sensitivity is calculated for the cumulated charge transfer density to quantify the effects of operating parameters on the cold start process at low temperature. And how these parameters affect the operation of the PEMFC stack at low temperature is investigated. The results show that inconsistency exists in stack operation due to the position particularity of the intermediate cell. Irreversible heat is the main heat source for the cold start of the stack, and the cathode catalyst layer is the main heat-generating component. The heat production proportion of cathode catalyst layer can reach 90%, which decreases with the increment of current density and the running time, especially for the edge cell. The initial ionomer water content is most sensitive to the cold start process of the stack, followed by the porosity of cathode catalyst layer. These parameters are sensitive to the cold start process mainly because of the change in volumetric exchange current density and oxygen concentration.

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) stack is a key component in the fuel cell/battery hybrid vehicle. Thermal management and optimized control of the PEMFC under real driving cycle remains a challenging issue. This paper presents a new hybrid vehicle model, including simulations of diver behavior, vehicle dynamic, vehicle control unit, energy control unit, PEMFC stack, cooling system, battery, DC/DC converter, and motor. The stack model had been validated against experimental results. The aim is to model and analyze the characteristics of the 30 kW PEMFC stack regulated by its cooling system under actual driving conditions. Under actual driving cycles (0–65 kW/h), 33%–50% of the total energy becomes stack heat; the heat dissipation requirements of the PEMFC stack are high and increase at high speed and acceleration. A PID control is proposed; the cooling water flow rate is adjusted; the control succeeded in stabilizing the stack temperature at 350 K at actual driving conditions. Constant and relative lower inlet cooling water temperature (340 K) improves the regulation ability of the PID control. The hybrid vehicle model can provide a theoretical basis for the thermal management of the PEMFC stack in complex vehicle driving conditions.

The storage problem at low temperatures is one of the technical barriers to commercialization in the future for the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). In this study, the resistance relaxation characteristic under different pretreatment methods before low-temperature storage of PEMFC is analyzed. The effect of residual water in different PEMFC locations on its storage performance after thermal cycles are investigated. The evolution curves of resistance after the purging process are different under equilibrium, cold, and hot purge and the percentage drop of cell resistance at relaxation stage under three methods are 14.5%, 66.3%, and 73.1%. It is found that the most likely reason for relaxation is membrane water structure reorganization. The voltage of the cell with no purge and purged to the end of the first stage becomes smaller at low current density after 20 freeze/thaw cycles. The charge transfer resistances of the cell with no purge, purged to the end of the first stage, and purged to the end of the second stage increase by 8.2%, 15.6%, and 7.4%, respectively. And the cell purged to the end of the first stage has the largest decay rate of electrochemical surface area. The result implies that the performance degradation after freeze/thaw cycles is associated with the water in the ionomer of catalyst layers, which freezes between ionomers and Pt particles at low temperatures.

In this study, experimental methods are used to study the effect of assembly torque and channel size on cold start performance. Through the analysis of pressure distribution, fuel cell voltage, cathode gas inlet and outlet pressure drop and high frequency impedance, it is considered that, under the experimental conditions of this study, the fuel cell assembly torque is 2 N m, which has better cold start performance than the assembly torque of 1 N m and 4 N m. In addition, Under the condition of 2 N m assembly torque, the effect of four different flow channel sizes on the pressure distribution and cold start performance of the fuel cell was studied. It is found that when the width of channel is 0.5 mm, the depth of channel is 0.3 mm, the cold start performance is best.

Air supply systems are essential subsystems in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems. Compressors are the key devices of air supply systems that greatly influence the characteristics of fuel cells. The simulation and experimental researches on a small centrifugal compressor with high rotation speed have been presented in this paper. Firstly, the input parameters of a compressor are obtained based on the output power and operating pressure of PEM fuel cells. Then, a prototype of small centrifugal compressors applied in PEM fuel cells is designed, simulated with the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) method, and tested in actual working conditions. Finally, the simulation results show that the internal flow in compressors affects the performance strongly. The discharge pressure of the simulation is close to the test data in the studied working conditions, and the maximum error is less than 6%.

Enhancing mass transfer capability of flow channel is important subject to improve fuel cell performance. In this study, an experimental study about non-uniform arrangement of metallic structures in cathodic flow channel on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell is conducted. Metallic 3D printer is used to manufacture 3D mesh with complex geometry. Channel width and bottom-rear channel depth are selected to change the geometry of structure. Assuming that accelerating flow velocity and reinforcing flow direction to gas diffusion layer can improve fuel cell performance, eight basic arrangements are inserted into cathodic carbon bipolar plate to measure fuel cell performance. With I–V curve, the unit cells with non-uniform arrangements of width and tapered structure show performance enhancement of 12.8% in maximum power density, compared with conventional parallel flow channel. According to electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results, performance enhancement by non-uniform arrangement is mainly occur in high current density operation due to low mass transfer resistance.

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell and direct methanol fuel cells have gained more attention due to high–energy density, remarkable conversion efficiency, and low emission. However, their widely practical application was hindered by the high usage, limited sources, and high price of Pt catalysts. To achieve more cost–effective catalytic systems, PtCu–based multi–metallic nanoparticles are highly efficient for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) and methanol oxidation reaction (MOR). The incorporation of non–noble Cu metal can alter the properties of hybrids by forming new facets, planes, edges to promote the cleavage or formation of chemical bonds in catalytic reaction. This is a rapid growing area with numerous contributions from the interdisciplinary areas of nanocatalysis. This paper has summarized the recent progress in the past two years, in synthesizing PtCu–based alloys with various composition and morphologies, and critically discussed the effect of the catalyst preparation method, metal precursor, surfactant, reductant and heating temperature on nanostructure and electronic configuration. The important role of the composition, size, and morphology of PtCu bimetallic catalysts for electro oxidation reactions has been further established for structure–dependency studies. The challenges and perspectives of nanocatalysts for ORR and MOR discussed in this work is to provide further insights into rational design for cost–effective materials for energy.

Radiation-induced graft polymerization is introduced to effectively fabricate proton exchange membrane based on 12.5 μm fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP) film. The graft side chains penetrate FEP film and distribute inside the bulk matrix evenly. The membranes exhibit hydrophilic/hydrophobic microphase-separated morphology as well as good thermal stability. The influences of irradiation parameters on the membrane property are investigated and the resulting membranes (named FEP-g-PSSA) exhibit excellent physicochemical properties. Membrane with 27.48% degree of graft and 130.1 mS cm−1 proton conductivity is employed for fuel cell performance measurement. Under optimized operate conditions (80 °C, 75% relative humidity), the power density could reach up to 0.896 W cm−2, inspiring for fuel cell application. The mass-transport-controlled polarization of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) based on FEP-g-PSSA membrane is higher than Nafion® 211 within the whole current density range and the gap is widening with increasing current density. At 2.0 A cm−2, the mass transfer polarization of FEP-g-PSSA reaches up to 0.204 V, far higher than Nafion® 211 (0.084 V). By promoting the compatibility between the ionomer in the catalyst layer and FEP-g-PSSA membrane and optimizing the membrane/catalyst layer/gas diffusion layer interfaces, the fuel cell performance could be significantly enhanced, making the FEP-g-PSSA membranes promising in fuel cell application.

A common problem associated with FeNC catalysts is their poor stability dominated by the carbon oxidation reaction (COR). In this work, the feasibility of stabilizing FeNC catalysts with small quantities of Ir was explored. With iridium being present, instead of COR the oxygen evolution reaction should be favored. The impact on structure and morphology was investigated by 57Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The catalytic activity and durability for the oxygen reduction reaction was evaluated by rotating ring disc electrode experiments and accelerated stress tests mimicking the start-up and shutdown cycle (SSC) conditions, respectively. For selected samples the stability was analysed for SSCs in proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Moreover, the faradaic efficiency towards oxygen evolution reaction vs. COR was determined and the resistance towards COR analysed by in situ Raman spectroscopy. The results indicate indeed a suppression of the COR; however, specifically for fuel cell applications, further optimization is necessary.

In this work, coupling effects of water content, temperature, oxygen density, and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) loading on oxygen transport through an ionomer thin film on a platinum surface in a catalyst layer of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell are investigated using molecular dynamics approach. Taguchi orthogonal algorithm is employed to comprehensively analyze the coupling effects in a limited number of cases. It is found that the effect of operation temperature is the weakest among the four factors, which has the smallest effect index 14.4. Coupling effects including the PTFE loadings on the oxygen transfer through the ionomer thin film is uncovered. Less PTFE loadings should be beneficial for the oxygen transfer. The chemical potential gradient is considered as the major driven force for the oxygen transport through the ionomer thin film, and oxygen density is the dominating factor, significantly affecting the chemical potential in the thin film.

The hydrogen recirculation in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is recommended for the hydrogen supply of PEMFC, and hydrogen ejectors are gradually being used in fuel cell vehicles due to low noise and low energy consumption. However, there is a lack of discussion about the influence of recirculation rate on the stack. Due to passive regulating mechanism of the ejectors, a miniature speed-adjustable peristaltic pump is used to simulate the hydrogen ejector in this study to investigate the effect of hydrogen recirculation on the performance of PEMFC stack. Experiments are conducted under different pump flow rates. The stack with hydrogen recirculation is proven to have better performance, but over high pump flow rate can lead to hydrogen shortage. It is interesting to find that the flow rate fluctuation of hydrogen inlet affects the stability of stack performance, and pressure drop and recovery time during purge process are proposed as effective indicators for performance analysis. Finally, pump flow rates between 60 ml/min and 105 ml/min are defined as “effective area”. Based on the analysis of effective indicators, keeping at “effective area” is further proved to improve the performance of the stack, which is also useful to design hydrogen recirculation.

Flow channel design has attracted more and more attention with the evolution of fuel cell technology. Compared with conventional 2D flow channel, 3D flow channel has been proved to improve the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell with great enhancement of reactant transport in many researches. In this paper, flow fields of parallel 2D, simplified 3D and 3D with inclination are presented to study the transport and distribution characteristics of reactant and water inside a fuel cell, and efficiency evaluation criterion is proposed to evaluate the superiority of the flow channel design. It is found that 3D flow fields are superior compared with parallel 2D flow channel, with improved capacity of mass transfer, uniform water distribution and advanced water removal ability. The performance improvements of both 3D flow channel designs become significant at elevated current density, with the output voltage increasing to 4.4% at 1.6 A cm−2 and up to 10% at 2 A cm−2. Compared with 3D flow channel with inclination, simplified 3D flow channel shows smaller pressure drop, and it has better performance than that of 2D flow channel. Considering both the performance and flow resistance, simplified 3D flow channel performs the best with high efficiency and easy-processing, thus it is the future direction of flow design.

In this article, thermodynamic modeling of a cogeneration system consisting of a series two-stage organic Rankine cycle (STORC) and a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell is conducted. The fuel cell dissipated heat is utilized as STORC plant input. In order to gain a higher efficiency for the proposed cogeneration system, the condenser of the organic Rankin cycle is replaced by a thermoelectric generator (TEG) to minimize heat loss. Moreover, zeotropic mixtures have been employed due to their lower irreversibility compared to single working fluid. Simulation code is developed in MATLAB software linked with the REFPROP software to extract the thermodynamic properties. This simulation code calculates the exergy efficiency and system's total cost rate. Since the performance of the system is affected by the working fluid, three zeotropic mixtures are compared with R123. The parametric study shows that high pressure (HP) and low pressure (LP) evaporator temperature, current density, and PEM operating pressure significantly affect the total cost rate and the second law efficiency. The results indicate that Ipentane-cis Butane has better efficiency among the selected zeotropic mixtures. Furthermore, the genetic algorithm multi-objective optimization is applied to determine the optimal design parameters of the system in a scatter distribution schematic. Finally, the normalized Pareto frontier of Ipentane-cis Butane is given and the related best point of working as a higher exergy efficiency and lower cost rate are specified. Eventually, it is concluded that the integration of STORC with primary PEM fuel cell improves overall exergy efficiency by 1.9%. The total cost rate for optimum point can be in a range of 1.36–14.94 ($/h), depending on the hydrogen production process.

To improve the drag reduction performances of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), a three dimensional numerical investigation about the water removal in a lotus-like PEMFC flow channel is carried out. The effects of the microstructure shape parameters (height, radius and spacing) are investigated. The investigation revealed that the liquid water can be effectively removed by the lotus-like flow channel from the channel wall surface. The appropriate height of lotus-like channel can effectively reduce the water coverage ratio on the top wall of the lotus-like flow channel. As height increases, the average drag reduction ratio increases firstly and decreases finally. When the radiuses are 25 μm and 50 μm, the average drag reduction ratios of these cases are higher than those of the other cases obviously. The spacing of the lotus-like channel has a few effects on the water removal and water coverage ratio. The lotus-like flow channel with the height of 50 μm, the radius of 50 μm and the spacing of 150 μm has a high drag reduction and anti-corrosion performance. The work in this study provides a new choice for the flow channel and has certain guiding significance for the design of the flow channel for anti-corrosion and drag reduction.

Hierarchically porous architecture of iron–nitrogen-carbon (Fe-N-C) for oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is highly desired towards efficient mass transfer in the fuel cell device manner. Herein, we reported a binary ligand strategy to prepare zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs)-derived precursors, wherein the addition of secondary ligand endows precursors with the capabilities to transform into porously interweaved encapsulation-nanotubes structured composites after calcination. The optimal catalyst, i.e., termed as Fe6-M/C-3, exhibits excellent durability with 88.8% current retention after 50,000 seconds in 0.1 M HClO4 solution by virtue of nanoparticles-encapsulation features, which is more positive than the benchmark commercial 20 wt% Pt/C catalyst. Moreover, a promising maximum power density of Fe6-M/C-3 as cathode catalyst was also demonstrated in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) measurements. Therefore, this binary ligand approach to the fabrication of hierarchically porous structures would also have significant implications for various other electrochemical reactions.

This study presents a detailed review on the ultrathin catalyst layer (UTCL) design strategy for high-performance proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Specifically, the motivation towards the further reduced Pt loadings by applying the UTCL electrode design is firstly introduced from both the historical and mechanism deductions. Then, the recent developments on the UTCL designs belonging to different classifications are summarized with their respective merits. In particular, the critical issues remained on these ultra-thin, low Pt-loaded electrodes are proposed with alternative solutions. Finally, the whole review is concluded with the perspectives on the possible future directions settling the remaining challenges.

The commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) could provide a cleaner energy society in the near future. However, the sluggish reaction kinetics and harsh conditions of the oxygen reduction reaction affect the durability and cost of PEMFCs. Most previous reports on Pt-based electrocatalyst designs have focused more on improving their activity; however, with the commercialization of PEMFCs, durability has received increasing attention. In-depth insight into the structural evolution of Pt-based electrocatalysts throughout their lifecycle can contribute to further optimization of their activity and durability. The development of in situ electron microscopy and other in situ techniques has promoted the elucidation of the evolution mechanism. This mini review highlights recent advances in the structural evolution of Pt-based electrocatalysts. The mechanisms are adequately discussed, and some methods to inhibit or exploit the structural evolution of the catalysts are also briefly reviewed.

The polarization curve is the most important profile to evaluate the performance of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). To explore the important thermodynamic parameters and their correlation with the composition, fabrication, and operational settings, a comprehensive data set consisting of 446 polarization curves from 191 perfluorosulfonate and 255 sulfonated hydrocarbon-based PEMs is collected. Then, a Markov chain Monte Carlo simulation within the Bayesian frame provides higher than 93% confidence to extract six important thermodynamic parameters including open-circuit potential, the transfer coefficient, the current loss, the reference exchange current density, the internal resistance, and the limiting current density. An extreme gradient boosting algorithm affords a mean determinative coefficient of 0.89 to predict the whole polarization curve and a confidence of 94% to predict the peak power density (PPD). Both approaches to explore the polarization curve for PEMFCs show good robustness in the blind test. Overall, the PPD is positively correlated with the ion-exchange capacity of the polymer, operational temperature, and humidity and is negatively affected by internal resistance, membrane thickness, and the loading of the catalyst. The flow rate of fuels can effectively enhance them, while the increase of catalyst loading or fuel concentration shows deleterious impacts.

To comprehensively understand the CO poisoning effect on high-temperature PEMFC stack (HT-PEMFCs), a 3-D numerical HT-PEMFCs model is developed. The crucial anodic kinetic parameters are obtained from experimental data to improve the accuracy of the model. Then, multi-perspective analysis is conducted on different HT-PEMFC stacks with 1, 3, and 5 cells working at 160 °C with 3 mol% CO in H2. Besides, parametric simulations are conducted on the three-cell stack. It is found that the CO and H2 coverage varies between cells in the stack due to the temperature distribution difference, and the stack with more cells as well as the middle-cell of multi-cell stack have better performance, higher H2 coverage, lower CO coverage due to higher internal temperature. However, too high local temperature not only reduce the CO coverage but reduce the H2 coverage and increase the anode overpotential. The resistance to CO poisoning can be improved by increasing operating temperature, but when CO2 and water vapor are introduced into the anode, the H2 coverage decreases and the CO coverage increases due to the decrease of H2 concentration. The study clearly demonstrated that high performance and high CO resistance can be achieved by carefully regulating the operating conditions.

As a rising star, the fuel cell will be applied very broadly. However, when the fuel cell works at a high current, too much water yield and the redundancy water block the air or oxygen enter the fuel cell, then the power reduces sharply. The gas diffusion layer (GDL) in the fuel cell is the critical component to transfer water and gas. A novel GDL was prepared in this paper to improve transferability. The new GDL consists of one carbon paper and two microporous layers. The microporous layer close to carbon paper is modified by pore-former CaCO3. The total thickness of the new GDL is 270 μm; then, the samples were pressed to 220, 240, and 260 μm by rolling, respectively. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy tests at a large current (2.5 A/cm2) show that the fuel cell with 240 μm GDL has relatively small transmission impedance regardless of high or low humidity. The results show that the new GDL can significantly improve the water transferability of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell.

High–temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT–PEMFCs) are pursued worldwide as efficient energy conversion devices. Great efforts have been made in the area of designing and developing phosphoric acid (PA)–based proton exchange membrane (PEM) of HT–PEMFCs. This review focuses on recent advances in the limitations of acid–based PEM (acid leaching, oxidative degradation, and mechanical degradation) and the approaches mitigating the membrane degradation. Preparing multilayer or polymers with continuous network, adding hygroscopic inorganic materials, and introducing PA doping sites or covalent interactions with PA can effectively reduce acid leaching. Membrane oxidative degradation can be alleviated by synthesizing crosslinked or branched polymers, and introducing antioxidative groups or highly oxidative stable materials. Crosslinking to get a compact structure, blending with stable polymers and inorganic materials, preparing polymer with high molecular weight, and fabricating the polymer with PA doping sites away from backbones, are recommended to improve the membrane mechanical strength. Also, by comparing the running hours and decay rate, three current approaches, 1. crosslinking via thermally curing or polymeric crosslinker, 2. incorporating hygroscopic inorganic materials, 3. increasing membrane layers or introducing strong basic groups and electron–withdrawing groups, have been concluded to be promising approaches to improve the durability of HT–PEMFCs. The overall aim of this review is to explore the existing degradation challenges and opportunities to serve as a solid basis for the deployment in the fuel cell market.

Incorporating inorganic fillers, such as SiO2, TiO2, and CeO2, into the electrolyte membrane via the conventional casting and evaporation process is proved to intensify the water retention, thus improve the proton conductivity of the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) under high temperature. However, this approach does not dramatically enhance the performance of the composite membrane due to the issue of proton pathway reduction and fillers agglomeration. Herein, uniformly patterned mesoporous TiO2 microplates (PTMPs) are successfully embedded on the anode side surface of the Nafion® membrane by using micro-hole stencil for spatially localizing the PTMPs and well-controlled ionomer spray technique. Interestingly, the membrane comprised of PTMPs with a diameter of ∼50 μm and a height of ∼5.2 μm exhibits the maximum power density by more than 35.2% compared to the reference Nafion® membrane with the same thickness (∼25 μm) under 120 °C and relative humidity of 35% condition. The result indicates that suitably designed PTMPs-embedded Nafion® membrane is effective for improving the PEMFC performance under elevated temperature and low humidity conditions.