Effect of multi-hole flow field structure on the performance of H2/O2 polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Abstract A new concept of multi-hole metallic bipolar plate (MH-MBP) for the H2/O2 fuel cell was developed for improving its performance. The fuel cell performances of MH-MBP cases increased as the hole length decreased. The cell with the MH-MBP-4, that has the shortest hole length, exhibited the best cell performance; the current density increased by 13.96% at 0.6 V. The ohmic resistance of the MHS MBPs decreased with the hole length, and it shows the lowest value for the fuel cell with MH-MBP-4 because of the more intimate contact. The higher value of charge transport resistance for the conventional MBP cases than those for the MH-MBP cases is observed under the entire current density regions; however, that of the fuel cell with MH-MBPs did not change because of the use of O2 at cathode.