Analysis of water management in lung-inspired polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) using neutron imaging

Cathode flow-fields inspired from the flow mechanism of air inside lungs can provide homogeneous, scalable and uniform reactant distributions in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEFC). Lung-inspired PEFCs developed so far resulted in enhanced performance compared to conventional single-serpentine PEFCs, when tested under different reactant conditions. Through polarization analysis and other characterizations, the performance enhancement has been attributed to better water management in lung-inspired PEFC. At this stage, an in-situ diagnostic test like neutron radiography is important in quantifying water management and its distribution within the flow structures, as neutrons are strongly attenuated by the water providing high contrast. This quantification will help in the further scale up to larger cell areas and higher flow field generations.