Water management in proton exchange membrane fuel cells using integrated electroosmotic pumping

Recent experimental and numerical investigations on proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) emphasize water management as a critical factor in the design of robust, high efficiency systems. Although various water management strategies have been proposed, water is still typically removed by pumping air into cathode channels at flow rates significantly higher than required by fuel cell stoichiometry. Such methods are thermodynamically unfavorable and constrain cathode flow channel design. We have developed proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with integrated planar electroosmotic (EO) pumping structures that actively remove liquid water from cathode flow channels. EO pumps can relieve cathode design barriers and facilitate efficient water management in fuel cells. EO pumps have no moving parts, scale appropriately with fuel cells, operate across a wide range of conditions, and consume a small fraction of fuel cell power. We demonstrate and quantify the efficacy of EO water pumping using controlled experiments in a single channel cathode flow structure. Our results show that, under certain operating conditions, removing water from the cathode using integrated EO pumping structures improves fuel cell performance and stability. The application of EO pumps for liquid water removal from PEMFC cathodes extends their operational range and reduces air flow rates.