We develop a facile and eco-friendly airbrush-based method for the fabrication of gas diffusion layers (GDLs) with improved water removal characteristics for high-performance polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The GDL architecture airbrushed on a porous carbon paper uniquely comprises hydrophobic double-layer coating and fine-patterned hydrophilic channels, which facilitate the outbound penetration of water generated from inside the membrane electrode assembly without flooding or undesirable mingling with oxygen inflow. We first prepare the colloids and solutions suitable for airbrushing, optimize the airbrush coating structure based on the water contact angle measurements, and finally confirm the improved water removal characteristics of the fabricated GDL samples by measuring the water transuding times. Our GDL fabrication procedure based on simple and fast airbrushing does not require costly vacuum process or toxic chemical treatment, thus may benefit practical and scalable manufacturing of high-performance PEMFCs towards the next-generation green transportation.

我们开发了一种简便且环保的喷枪基方法，用于制造气体扩散层（GDL），并改善了高性能聚合物电解质膜燃料电池（PEMFC）的除水性能。喷在多孔碳纸上的GDL结构独特地包含疏水性双层涂层和精细图案的亲水性通道，这些通道可促进从膜电极组件内部产生的水向外渗透，而不会发生溢流或与氧气流入产生不希望的混杂。我们首先准备适用于喷枪的胶体和溶液，基于水接触角的测量来优化喷枪涂层结构，最后通过测量水的渗出时间来确认所制造的GDL样品的改善的除水特性。