Method to produce a gas diffusion layer and fuel cell comprising a gas diffusion layer

A method for producing electrically conductive porous materials with distributed wettability, the method comprising the following steps:

• a) coating external and internal surfaces of a porous base material made of carbon fiber or titanium with at least one of fluoroethylene-propylene (FEP) or perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) or ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) or any other hydrophobic polymer;
• b) exposing the coated material to irradiation through a blocking mask causing only parts of the coated porous material to be exposed;
• and
• c) immersing the previously exposed material in a monomer solution and heating to a temperature higher than 45° C., resulting in a graft co-polymerization of monomers on the FEP layer.

A fuel cell, comprising:

• an anode side gas diffusion layer including hydrophilic parts for achieving a distributed wettability;
• and
• an anode flow plate having water channels partly aligned with said gas diffusion layer to be connected to a water inlet for flooding with water;
• said water channels and said hydrophilic parts of said gas diffusion layer forming a water supply network for humidifying the fuel cell.