Pore Network Modeling of Multiphase Transport in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Gas Diffusion Layers

In this thesis, pore network modeling was used to study how the microstructure of the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell gas diffusion layer (GDL) influences multiphase transport within the composite layer. An equivalent pore network of a GDL was used to study the effects of GDL/catalyst layer condensation points and contact quality on the spatial distribution of liquid water in the GDL. Next, pore networks extracted from synchrotron-based micro-computed tomography images of compressed GDLs were employed to simulate liquid water transport in GDL materials over a range of compression pressures, and favorable GDL compression values for preferred liquid water distributions were found for two commercially available GDL materials. Finally, a technique was developed for calculating the oxygen diffusivity in carbon paper substrates with a microporous layer (MPL) coating through pore network modeling. A hybrid network was incorporated into the pore network model, and effective diffusivity predictions of MPL coated GDL materials were obtained.M.A.S