Gostick, Jeffrey ThomasIoannidis, Marios A.Fowler, Michael W.Pritzker, Mark D.2018-01-102018-01-102009-03-01http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2008.12.053http://hdl.handle.net/10012/12835The final publication is available at Elsevier via http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.elecom.2008.12.053 © 2017. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/The condition of liquid water breakthrough at the cathode of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEMFC) is studied experimentally and data on corresponding water saturation and capillary pressure are provided for gas diffusion layers (GDL) with and without a microporous layer (MPL). The data demonstrate that the GDL saturation at water breakthrough is drastically reduced from ca. 25% to ca. 5% in the presence of MPL This observation is consistent with considerations of invasion percolation in finite-size lattices and suggests an explanation for the role of MPL in improving PEMFC performance at high current densities.enAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 InternationalPolymer electrolyte membrane fuel cellGas diffusion layerMicroporous layerWater managementCapillary pressurePercolationArticle