In order to improve the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the compressed nickel foam as flow field structure was applied to the fuel cell. The fuel cell test system was built and the performance of fuel cells with nickel foam flow field with different thicknesses were tested and analyzed by electrochemical active surface area (EASA), electrochemical impedance and polarization curve. And its operating parameters were optimized to improve the performance of PEMFC. Our results show that the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) can show a larger catalytic active area and uniformity of gas diffusion can be improved by using the nickel foam flow field instead of the conventional graphite serpentine flow field, and the impedance characteristic of 110PPI nickel foam can be improved by increasing the compression ratio of the original material. What's more, the polarization characteristic and power output performance of PEMFC with nickel foam flow field were improved by optimizing the operating parameters. Using the optimized operating parameters (cell temperature = 80 degrees C; humidification temperature = 75 degrees C; stoichiometric ratio = 2; back pressure = 0.23 Map), a peak power density of 1.89 W cm(-2) was obtained with an output voltage of 0.46 V. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.