The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has a significant potential in transportation, backup, and portable power applications, although there still are remaining technical and cost challenges. A key current goal is improving the performance while reducing the cost of the gas diffusion layer (GDL). Designing a commercial GDL, however, is far more complex than simply making a porous, sturdy, conductive layer, because of the trade-offs among performance, manufacturability, and cost. An improved understanding of its multifarious functions in the fuel cell can help attain this goal. Here, we identify 11 key characteristic parameters of the GDL and their significance to its performance. We begin a discussion of some of these parameters in this paper, specifically those related to the structure of the GDL substrate and the microporous layer (MPL), how these are measured experimentally ex-situ, how they influence fuel cell performance, and how they can be altered via the manufacturing process. In particular, we investigate the correlation between ex-situ measured effective diffusivity of water vapor and in-situ performance and limiting current density in a PEM fuel cell. Further, we examine the effect of adding multiple MPLs, MPL loading, and MPL particle size on cell performance under both wet and dry operating conditions. (C) 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.