Abstract：Commercial Pt catalysts used in the catalytic layer of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are expensive, so optimizing the distribution of the catalytic layer is of great significance to reduce the cost, improve the utilization ratio of Pt and improve the performance of the fuel cell. The fluid flow, mass transfer and electrochemical reaction processes in the gradient catalytic layer with two sub-layers and in the traditional monolayer were both calculated by numerical simulation. Comparing the simulation results of two cases, it was showed that the oxygen transport of the cathode side and the effluent of the product water were improved when the catalyst, ionomer and pore were distributed in gradient, so the battery performance of the gradient catalytic layer was obviously better than that of the evenly distributed catalytic layer.
HAN Qing,XIANG Zhonghua. Numerical Simulation of Cathode Gradient Catalytic Layer in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell[J]. Chemical Reaction Engineering and Technology, 2022, 38(5): 431-437.
