Designing proton exchange membrane fuel cells with high specific power density

Abstract

With the rapid development of new energy sources, proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have been increasingly recognized and promoted. There are many device-level and infrastructure-related challenges that need to be overcome before widespread commercialization can be achieved, one of the most critical being increasing the power density of PEMFCs. In this review, the technical development direction of the next generation of high power density PEMFCs is proposed. We present the latest progress related to the design of PEMFCs with high specific power density, focusing on catalysts, proton exchange membranes, gas diffusion layers, and bipolar plates. The challenges and future development trends associated with high-specific-power-density PEMFCs are also presented, providing insight for further improving the power density of PEMFCs.