Performance Enhancement of PEMFC with a Novel Bipolar Plate Integrated with a Voron Stealthburner Air Duct, Turboblower-Inspired Flow Channel, and Concentric Filling Structure

Abstract Addressing severe liquid water flooding and nonuniform thermal stress at high current densities is critical for improving the durability of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). To overcome inherent mass transport and structural limitations, this work proposes a novel bipolar plate (BPP) structure inspired by the Voronoi Stealthburner air duct profile. The design integrates turbo-blower-type flow channels for the cathode and three-dimensional–printed concentric flow channels for the anode, which jointly support the membrane electrode assembly, conduct current, distribute reactant gases, and remove liquid water effectively. A three-dimensional steady-state multiphase model is established in COMSOL to investigate turbo channels with 3 to 15 branches under three intake modes; subsequently, thermal stress is evaluated by coupling solid mechanics and heat transfer modules, using conventional wavy BPPs as the benchmark. The results demonstrate that the optimal configuration consists of the 12-branch cathode turbo channel with a central intake integrated with the anode concentric channel. Compared with the traditional wavy structure, this optimized design achieves a 27.23% higher peak power, a 6.37% lower average overpotential, a 13.54% higher cathode oxygen utilization at 0.6 V, and a 38.22% reduction in BPP thermal stress. This study presents a numerically evaluated, potential BPP design strategy for structural optimization, offering a theoretical basis for future practical applications.