A novel self-humidifying membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) with the active electrode region surrounded by an inactive ‘water transfer region’ (WTR) is proposed, to achieve effective water management and high performance for proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this configuration, excess water in the cathode was transferred to the anode through the Nafion® membrane to humidify hydrogen. Polarization curves and power curves of conventional and self-humidifying MEAs are compared. The self-humidifying MEA showed a power density of 85 mW/cm2 at 0.5 V, which is twice as high as that of a conventional MEA with open cathode. The effects of anode hydrogen flow rates on the performance of the self-humidifying MEA were investigated; its best performance was obtained at a flow rate of 40 ml/min. Its best performance was when the environmental temperature is 40°C. The performance of the self-humidifying MEA was slightly affected by environmental humidity. The area of the WTR was optimized, and the feasible area ratio of the self-humidifying MEA was 28%.
