Recent Progress on the Key Materials and Components for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells in Vehicle Applications

TLDR

Fuel cells are the cleanest and most efficient power source for vehicles, and PEMFCs are especially promising for automobiles due to rapid start‑up and low‑temperature operation, yet their widespread adoption is hindered by low durability, high cost, and the critical influence of key materials and components. This review summarizes and critically discusses recent technical progress in key materials and components of PEMFCs, such as membranes, catalyst layers, gas diffusion layers, and bipolar plates. The authors review recent advances and introduce high‑durability processing technologies for PEMFC components. Recent decade‑long research has led to significant breakthroughs in PEMFC performance—energy efficiency, power density, and low‑temperature start‑up—while 2014 saw the first market‑available fuel‑cell vehicles, and the review concludes with outlooks for future research.

Abstract

Fuel cells are the most clean and efficient power source for vehicles. In particular, proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are the most promising candidate for automobile applications due to their rapid start-up and low-temperature operation. Through extensive global research efforts in the latest decade, the performance of PEMFCs, including energy efficiency, volumetric and mass power density, and low temperature startup ability, have achieved significant breakthroughs. In 2014, fuel cell powered vehicles were introduced into the market by several prominent vehicle companies. However, the low durability and high cost of PEMFC systems are still the main obstacles for large-scale industrialization of this technology. The key materials and components used in PEMFCs greatly affect their durability and cost. In this review, the technical progress of key materials and components for PEMFCs has been summarized and critically discussed, including topics such as the membrane, catalyst layer, gas diffusion layer, and bipolar plate. The development of high-durability processing technologies is also introduced. Finally, this review is concluded with personal perspectives on the future research directions of this area.