Design and Manufacturing Challenges in PEMFC Flow Fields—A Review

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells are a prime choice for substitute electricity producers. Membrane electrode assembly (MEA), bipolar electrodes, and current collectors belong to only a limited number of primary parts of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Bipolar plates are among the most famous elements in the fuel cell; they are responsible for the electrochemical reaction, as well as the flow of gases from one bipolar plate to another. A bipolar plate is to be a good electro-conducting, non-corrosive, and a high mechanical strength product. The attainability of the specification is achieved by graphite and metallic materials, each one having its own merits and demerits that are discussed in this article. Likewise, making the second pass for the flow pattern is equally important for the cell to have good performance and efficiency. The emergence of innovative and new bipolar plate designs has caused the achievement of high performance of these plates. The present review article principally focuses on the experimental study of diverse flow fields in the design of PEMFC and on the influence of various geometrical properties on the general operation of fuel cells made of PEMFC, and also on the manufacturing procedure utilized for building contemporary fuel cells.