By progress of the new generation of electrical powertrains and reducing of the fossil fuel resources, vehicle industry becomes more interested in utilizing proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. However, practical utilization of them is faced with some challenges including liquid water accumulation in the porous electrodes. The common belief for mitigating this issue is the treatment of electrodes' gas diffusion layers (such as carbon papers consisting of carbon fibers and binder for binding fibers) with a highly hydrophobic material such as poly-tetra-fluoro-ethylene (PTFE). In the current investigation, 3D stochastic reconstructions and 3D lattice Boltzmann simulations are employed to discover the impact of PTFE distribution as well as the role of binder content on the removal process of a water droplet from a PEM fuel cell electrode for the first time. Nine different simulations with three dissimilar PTFE distributions and three dissimilar binder contents are implemented. The results demonstrate that the PTFE distribution and the existence of binder can greatly affect the removal efficiency of water droplet from gas diffusion layer. Unexpectedly, for higher binder contents, the uniform distribution of PTFE is less effective. Besides, for a specific PTFE distribution adding binder can effectively hinder the removal process of droplet.

随着新一代电力传动系统的进步和化石燃料资源的减少，汽车工业对利用质子交换膜（PEM）燃料电池越来越感兴趣。然而，它们的实际使用面临一些挑战，包括液态水在多孔电极中的积累。缓解此问题的普遍信念是用高度疏水的材料（例如聚四氟乙烯）对电极的气体扩散层（例如由碳纤维和用于粘合纤维的粘合剂组成的碳纸）进行处理。在目前的调查中 3D随机重建和3D格子Boltzmann模拟被用来首次发现PTFE分布的影响以及粘合剂含量对从PEM燃料电池电极去除水滴的作用。使用三种不同的PTFE分布和三种不同的粘合剂含量，进行了九种不同的模拟。结果表明，PTFE的分布和粘合剂的存在可以极大地影响水滴从气体扩散层的去除效率。出乎意料的是，对于更高的粘合剂含量，PTFE的均匀分布效果不佳。此外，对于特定的PTFE分布，添加粘合剂可以有效地阻碍液滴的去除过程。使用三种不同的PTFE分布和三种不同的粘合剂含量，进行了九种不同的模拟。结果表明，PTFE的分布和粘合剂的存在可以极大地影响水滴从气体扩散层的去除效率。出乎意料的是，对于更高的粘合剂含量，PTFE的均匀分布效果不佳。此外，对于特定的PTFE分布，添加粘合剂可以有效地阻碍液滴的去除过程。使用三种不同的PTFE分布和三种不同的粘合剂含量，进行了九种不同的模拟。结果表明，PTFE的分布和粘合剂的存在可以极大地影响水滴从气体扩散层的去除效率。出乎意料的是，对于更高的粘合剂含量，PTFE的均匀分布效果不佳。此外，对于特定的PTFE分布，添加粘合剂可以有效地阻碍液滴的去除过程。