Polymer electrolyte based fuel cells (PEFCs) are always in the forefront of fuel cell revolution. Recently a wide variety of application of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) in PEFC components has been exploited. The impetus is to improve the PEFC performance by taking advantages of CNTs’ extraordinary physical, chemical and electronic properties. Herein, we briefly review these efforts with an attempt t...

Among fuel cell technologies, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have gained momentum at a strong pace in small to medium scale energy generation (e.g., mobile applications, transportation, etc). Historically, the development of polymer electrolytes has gone through several stages: from ionic polymers of poly(ethylene oxide)-salt complexes, polystyrene sulfonate polymers, to perfl...

The trade-offs among dynamic response, efficiency, and robustness to external factors are fundamental to the optimization of hardware and controls for fuel cell systems. No previously published model of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) has the capability to simultaneously provide dynamic modeling capabilities, a clear representation of physical configurations, adjustable fidelit...

Under DSTO’s Strategic Research Initiative on Signatures, Materials, and Energy, a project entitled “Hybrid-Propulsion and Power-Management Technologies for Tactical Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS)” is underway. Fuel cells have been identified as having the potential to substantially increase the range and endurance of small, electrically-powered fixed-wing aircraft. Herein described are experi...

In this paper, we introduce a modified interpretation of the water activity presented in Springer et al. [T.E. Springer, T.A. Zawodzinski, S. ottesfeld, Polymer electrolyte fuel cell model, J. Electrochem. Soc. 138 (8) (1991) 2334–2342]. The modification directly affects the membrane ater transport between the anode and the cathode (two electrodes) of the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel...

This paper summarizes experimental results of an air fed polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell system HyPM XR 12 (Hydrogenics Corp.) considering fuel cell temperature, stoichiometry and load requirement variations at ambient and low pressure operation. The experimental work realized at a low pressure test facility designed and assembled by the German Aerospace Center, Institute of Engineering ...