Authors: Hadi Heidary, Vahid Nasrollahi, Daniel Wilmot, Jacob Bracegirdle-Morais, Sophie C. Cox, Stefan Dimov, Moataz M. Attallah, Ahmad El-kharouf, Sara Walker, Robert Steinberger-Wilckens

 

Abstract: The integration of hydrogen fuel cells into aerospace applications is limited by the weight and volume of fuel cell systems. Currently, bipolar plates account for 80 % of fuel cell stack mass and 60 % of its volume. Herein, we leverage a range of advanced manufacturing techniques to develop novel lightweight-compact porous distributors with ultrahigh power densities. Research begins with a graphene-coated nickel foam porous distributor, which enhances reactants transport and interfacial conductivity, achieving a power density of 1.52 W/cm², ∼50 % improvement over conventional designs. To further boost gravimetric power density, titanium was adopted as a base material, and porous architectures were optimized using Computational Fluid Dynamics to ensure optimal reactant distribution and water management. To realize these porous titanium designs, two advanced manufacturing techniques were leveraged: laser powder bed fusion (LPBF) and laser micromachining. While the optimized LPBF lattice structure reached 1.36 W/cm², the laser-patterned non-homogeneous architecture demonstrated a breakthrough performance of 1.62 W/cm², translating to volumetric and gravimetric power densities of over 10 kW/L and 9 kW/kg, respectively. These values surpass current commercial benchmarks and exceed EU/UK 2030 targets. We demonstrate how integrating digital design, flow control, advanced materials, and manufacturing enables lightweight, high-power fuel cells, with broader impact on electrolyzers, heat exchangers, and batteries.

 

 

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