Measurements of water distribution in through-plane direction of PEFC by using neutron radiography

Murakawa, Hideki*; Wada, Daisuke*; Sugimoto, Katsumi*; Asano, Hitoshi*; Takenaka, Nobuyuki*; Yasuda, Ryo

Hydrogen gas and air are supplied to a polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). Protons pass through the electrolyte membrane, and combine with oxygen to form water in the cathode reaction site. The generated water must be supplied appropriately to the membrane for proton conduction. On the other hand, the generated water may affect the fuel cell performances because of the blocking of oxygen from reaching the cathode reaction site. Therefore, water management in the PEFC is important, and water distribution during the operation in the through-plane direction has been of wide concern. In order to obtain the water distributions in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and a gas diffusion layer (GDL), a borescope system was newly employed using neutron radiography. The system could obtain the water distribution in the MEA and the GDL, and pixel size of 6.5 micron was achieved. Furthermore, the system was applied for a tilted converter system. The pixel of 1.0 micron at angle of 81 degrees was achieved, and improvement of the spatial resolution was confirmed.