Optimum condition of membrane electrode assembly fabrication for PEM fuel cells

The aim of this research was to study the effect of fabrication factors on the performance of MEA of a PEM fuel cell. The MEA was prepared by using 5 cm(2) of porous electrodes with Pt loading 1 mg/cm(2) and Nafion 115 membrane from Electrochem Co. Ltd. The studied factors were temperature, pressure and time of compression in the range of 130-150 degrees C, 50-100 kg/cm(2) and 1-5 minutes, respectively. A 2(k) factorial design was conducted in this study. The results showed that interaction between pressure and temperature and interaction between temperature and time of compression have significant effects on the performance of the MEA. With low pressure, but high temperature and long compression time, current density is increased. The results showed that the optimum condition was 65 kg/cm(2), 137 degrees C and 5.5 min of compression time. It was also found that the force of 69 kg-cm for assembling the single cell gave the best performance.