A Fully Coupled Three-Dimensional Dynamic Model of Polymeric Membranes for Fuel Cells

P. Alotto[1], M. Guarnieri[1], and F. Moro[1]

[1]Dipartimento di Ingegneria Elettrica, Università di Padova, Padova, Italy
Published in 2009

The proton exchange membrane is a key component in the currently widely studied Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells. In this paper a fully coupled three-dimensional dynamic numerical model of the membrane including all the physically relevant phenomena, i.e. ion transport, hydration-dependent conductivity and thermal effects is presented. The highly non-linear model is discretized by means of the Finite Element Method provided by the COMSOL Multiphysics® simulation environment.

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