It is a critical issue to understand the relationship between water-droplet behavior and cell voltage for the establishment of PEFC water management. We fabricated three cells, whose channel pattern is different: straight one channel, parallel three channels and serpentine one channel. We operated these different channel-pattern cells and visualized water droplets in cathode channel, with systematically changing operation condition to quantitatively compare the performance and water droplet behavior between the cells. Successive process of water behavior, named as flooding, plugging and flushing, emerged in every channel-pattern cell. However, the each channel pattern cell also has inherent water behavior, showing particular cell voltage variation. Within our experimental condition, the serpentine one channel cell showed a superior tolerance to flooding and the highest performance among the three cells. (C) 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.