Special Issue
  • Research Trends on Key Components of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC): A Review

  • Seung-Cheol Shin*# , Myungjin Hong*# , Eun Ju Jeong*, Seong Jun Kim*, Seung Woo Choi*, Hyun Tak Kim*, Tak Heo*, Min Jeong Kim*, Young Kyu Kim*, Sang Eui Lee*†

  • * Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea

  • This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

As the need for alternative energy increases due to the depletion of fossil fuels, environmental problems and the increase in electricity demand, alternatives are being sought. Hydrogen energy and fuel cell technologies are attracting more attention due to their pollution-free and high efficiency. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells, which use hydrogen as fuel, are mainly used in vehicles, portable devices, and various applications, and are emerging as next-generation technologies that can solve environmental problems due to little pollutant emissions. This paper explained about the operating principles of fuel cells, types of fuel cells, and market trends, and especially analyzed and summarized the research trend related to 1) GDBL(gas diffusion backing layer), 2) MPL(micro porous layer), 3) BP(bipolar plate) 4) MEA(membrane electrode assembly) which are key parts of PEMFC(proton exchange membrane fuel cell).


Keywords: Gas diffusion backing layer(GDBL), Micro porous layer(MPL), Bipolar plate(BP), Membrane electrode assembly (MEA)

This Article

Correspondence to

  • Sang Eui Lee

  • Department of Mechanical Engineering, Inha University, Incheon 22212, Republic of Korea

  • E-mail: selee@inha.ac.kr