Anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) have emerged as a promising alternative to commercialized proton exchange membrane fuel cells because they can enable much lower costs by using cheaper materials, especially non-precious metal electrocatalysts. However, the commercialization of AEMFCs faces several technical challenges, including water management during operation. More specifically, achieving high power density typically requires AEMFCs to be operated with anode/cathode reacting gas dew points much lower than the cell operating temperature to prevent flooding. Conversely, achieving long lifetime typically requires reacting gases with high relative humidities to be supplied to the cell. A solution is needed that can allow for high power density to be achieved under states of high hydration – i.e., high reacting gas dew points, even at lower operating temperatures (e.g., 60 °C). This work explores multiple electrode-level water management strategies for AEMFCs with the goal of enabling high power operation at high states of hydration, including: i) hydrophobic catalyst layers by adding PTFE; ii) hydrophilic catalyst layers by adding Nafion®; iii) gas diffusion layers (GDLs) with patterned wettability; and iv) combinations thereof. Compared to hydrophobic electrodes suffering serious flooding at high hydration states, the promising result of this work is one of the highest reported peak power densities reported to date at 60 ^oC, 1.5 W cm^-2, under H₂/O₂ flow with hydrophilic-hydrophobic hybrid electrodes, even with anode and cathode dew points of 59 °C and 62 °C, respectively. It is expected that these electrode-level water management strategies can contribute to the commercialization of AEMFCs in the near future.

中文翻译：

---

阴离子交换膜燃料电池的电极级水管理策略


阴离子交换膜燃料电池 （AEMFC） 已成为商业化质子交换膜燃料电池的一种有前途的替代品，因为它们可以通过使用更便宜的材料，尤其是非贵金属电催化剂来大大降低成本。然而，AEMFC 的商业化面临一些技术挑战，包括运行期间的水管理。更具体地说，实现高功率密度通常需要 AEMFC 在阳极/阴极反应气体露点远低于电池工作温度的情况下运行，以防止泛洪。相反，要实现长使用寿命，通常需要向电池供应相对湿度较高的反应气体。需要一种解决方案，即使在较低的工作温度（例如 60 °C）下，也能在高水合状态下实现高功率密度，即高反应气体露点。这项工作探索了 AEMFC 的多种电极级水管理策略，目标是在高水合状态下实现高功率运行，包括：i） 通过添加 PTFE 形成疏水催化剂层;ii） 通过添加 Nafion® 形成亲水催化剂层;iii） 具有图案化润湿性的气体扩散层 （GDL）;以及 iv） 它们的组合。与在高水合状态下遭受严重泛水的疏水电极相比，这项工作的有希望的结果是迄今为止报道的最高峰值功率密度^之一，在 H₂/O₂ 流动下，亲水疏水混合电极，即使阳极和阴极露点为 59 °C 和 62 °C， 分别。预计这些电极级水管理策略可以在不久的将来为 AEMFC 的商业化做出贡献。