Performance comparison of a manifuctured PEM to a commercial pem fuel cell

Fuel cells are energy convertion devices which transfer the electrochemical energy to electrical energy. They are clean, environment friendly and have high efficiency. A fuel cell basically consists of two electrodes which are inserted in to an electrolytic fluid. Proton exchange membrane (PEM) type fuel cell electrodes are generally formed by platinum catalyst or carbon catalyst . To prepare a fuel cell has not yet been standardized method and there are various factors that effect the result. Since the capacity of chosen catalyst in fuel cells to convert hydrogen to energy directly influences the performance and efficiency of fuel cell, the catalyst has an important role in these systems. In this study, PEM fuel cell has been obtained by using Nafion 115 for membrane, copper sheet whose electrical conductivity is high and 304 stainless conductive metallic wire as anode-cathode material. The effect of this fuel cell?s catalyst and electrode upon the efficiency has been examined. And finally, the efficiencies of commercial PEM type fuel cell and PEM fuel cell that we have produced have been compared.Key words: Different catalyst materials, Effect of membrane dimension, Pem fuel cell.