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Fuel Cell Innovations: Fundamentals and Applications

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "D: Energy Storage and Application".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 10 October 2025 | Viewed by 251

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering of MOE, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Interests: fuel cell; pore scale modeling; reactive transport; phase change; multiscale simulations
Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering of MOE, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Interests: fuel cell; water and heat management; hydrogen utilization; multi-scale heat and mass transfer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering of MOE, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Interests: fuel cell; numerical simulation; digital twin

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Key Laboratory of Thermo-Fluid Science and Engineering of MOE, School of Energy and Power Engineering, Xi’an Jiaotong University, Xi’an 710049, China
Interests: fuel cell; fuel injector; numerical simulation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Fuel cells have emerged as a pivotal technology in the transition toward sustainable and clean energy systems. Their ability to efficiently convert chemical energy into electrical power with minimal environmental impact has made them an attractive solution for a variety of applications, including transportation, stationary power generation, and portable devices. Recent advancements in fuel cell technology, encompassing material innovations, performance optimization, and integration with renewable energy sources, have significantly expanded their potential. However, challenges such as cost reduction, durability, and scalability remain critical areas of ongoing research and development.

This Special Issue aims to provide a comprehensive platform for researchers to present and discuss the latest developments in fuel cell technology. By bringing together fundamental research and application innovations, this Special Issue seeks to highlight breakthroughs that contribute to enhancing the performance and durability of fuel cells.

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Fuel cell system design and optimization;
  • Durability, degradation mechanisms, and lifetime enhancement strategies;
  • Hydrogen production, storage, and utilization in fuel cell applications;
  • Emerging applications in transportation, stationary power, and portable electronics;
  • Advanced simulations for the modelling of fuel cells;
  • Mass and heat transfer in fuel cells;
  • Water and thermal management of fuel cells;
  • Advanced catalyst, membrane or material development for improving fuel cell performance.

We invite researchers to submit original research articles or comprehensive reviews that provide novel insights for fuel cell development.

Dr. Wenzhen Fang
Dr. Pu He
Dr. Fan Bai
Dr. Zhuo Zhang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • fuel cell
  • design and optimization
  • durability
  • modelling
  • theory
  • applications

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 20926 KiB  
Article
Optimization of Gradient Catalyst Layers in PEMFCs Based on Neural Network Models
by Guo-Rui Zhao, Wen-Zhen Fang, Zi-Hao Xuan and Wen-Quan Tao
Energies 2025, 18(10), 2570; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18102570 - 15 May 2025
Viewed by 144
Abstract
The high cost of platinum (Pt) catalysts impedes the widespread commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Reducing Pt loading will increase local oxygen transport resistance (RPtO2) and decrease performance. Due to the oxygen transport resistance, the [...] Read more.
The high cost of platinum (Pt) catalysts impedes the widespread commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Reducing Pt loading will increase local oxygen transport resistance (RPtO2) and decrease performance. Due to the oxygen transport resistance, the reactants in the cathode catalyst layer (CCL) are not evenly distributed. The gradient structure can cooperate with the unevenly distributed reactants in CL to enhance the Pt utilization. In this work, a one-dimensional gradient CCL model considering RPtO2 is established, and the optimal gradient structure is optimized by combining the artificial neural network (ANN) model and the genetic algorithm (GA). The optimal structure parameters of non-gradient CCL are lCL equal to 8.86 μm, rC equal to 36.82 nm, and I/C equal to 0.48, with the objective of maximum current density (Imax); lCL equal to 4.24 μm, rC equal to 36.60 nm, and I/C equal to 0.76, with the objective of maximum power density (Pmax). For the gradient CCL, the best gradient distribution enables Pt loading to increase from the membrane (MEM) side to the gas diffusion layer (GDL) side and the ionomer volume fraction to decrease from the MEM side to the GDL side. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Fuel Cell Innovations: Fundamentals and Applications)
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