Development of a Bi‐cell Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell with Optimized Groove‐designed Piezoelectric Actuator

Previous studies demonstrated a piezoelectric proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PZT‐PEMFC) stack design composed of three bi‐cells in series and a single bi‐cell, with a maximum net power density of 0.1608 W cm−2. The present study developed a modified bi‐cell design with lower volume and weight by using gold‐plated aluminum 6061. A groove‐designed PZT actuator enclosed with poly‐di‐methyl‐siloxane (PDMS) curing for 30 min can reduce uneven air feeding. Such an actuator can also improve the performance of both sides of a bi‐cell, with only a 0.7% difference in the open circuit voltage (OCV). The experimental results showed that the net power density of the new version of the single bi‐cell PZT‐PEMFC module was 0.1658 W cm−2.