Design of HT-PEMFC Devices

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) that operate at higher temperatures (>100 ℃) have emerged as one branch of next-generation power sources for efficient energy conversion applications. The operating environment of HT-PEMFCs brings great opportunities for faster electrode reaction kinetics, alleviates the poisoning effect of electrocatalysts while implementing fuels with a higher level of impurities, and allows for simpler water and heat management systems. Attracted by the exceptional merits, research efforts have been devoted to solve the technical challenges in the design and fabrication of HT-PEMFC devices to make this fuel cell technology compelling for the future progress in clean energy market. This chapter mainly focuses on the research and development efforts in recent years towards the design of novel HT-PEMFC devices, involving the development of key materials, such as electrocatalysts and membranes, the design of reaction interface and electrode structure, as well as the fabrication and integration of the stack and system. The cutting-edge electrode designs and fundamental issues associated with the HT-PEMFC technology are highlighted and identified to provide an extensive view of the current research and development status, and shed some light on the future research directions from components design to device application level.