The design of electrodes for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is a delicate balancing of transport media. Conductance of gas, electrons, and protons must be optimized to provide efficient transport to and from the electrochemical reactions. This is accomplished through careful consideration of the volume of conducting media required by each phase and the distribution of the respective conducting network. In addition, the issue of electrode flooding cannot be neglected in the electrode design process. This review is a survey of recent literature with the objective to identify common components, designs and assembly methods for PEMFC electrodes. We provide an overview of fabrication methods that have been shown to produce effective electrodes and those that we have deemed to have high future potential. The relative performances of the electrodes are characterized to facilitate comparison between design methodologies. (C) 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.