Influence of the material properties and the process parameters on the ablation behavior for the laser structuring of the diffusion media for fuel cells

Hydrogen-powered polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) show promising potential to power a wide range of mobile and stationary applications and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly. In PEMFCs, the oxygen transport and the water transport are essential for a long lifetime and high-performance characteristics. The diffusion media (DM), located between the bipolar plate and the catalyst-coated membrane, is a crucial component of the fuel cell that significantly affects the cell-internal processes. Usually, the DM is a two-layer material system consisting of a microporous layer based on carbon black particles coated onto a porous gas diffusion layer (e.g., carbon paper). The properties of the microporous layer regarding the water transport at high current densities and, consequently, the fuel cell’s performance and lifetime can be improved by laser structuring. Within this work, different microporous layers with varying binder content and porosities were structured by locally ablating the material using ultrashort-pulsed laser radiation in the infrared wavelength range. The effect of varying process parameters was additionally investigated. Furthermore, the ablation efficiencies were calculated for increasing pulse repetition rates to qualify a process window for an industrial structuring process. The size of the micro-drillings and the heat-affected zone surrounding the hole were evaluated through topographic and microstructure analyses using a laser scanning microscope and a scanning electron microscope with energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. The results showed a rather small influence of the porosity and composition of the microporous layer on the ablation behavior. In contrast, the laser structuring parameters influenced the micro-drilling geometry significantly.