This paper presents a detailed study of the wetting properties of three fuel cell gas diffusion layers (GDLs) having different morphologies and different contents of hydrophobic agent. An internal contact angle to water at temperature representative of PEM fuel cell operating conditions was directly obtained using the Washburn method with 66 degrees C water as test liquid. These results show that the surface of the carbon fibres is hydrophilic under fuel cell operating conditions. Surface energy values of the GDL fibres, determined by a combination of the Washburn method and the Owens-Wendt two parameters theory, were found to be low, indicating that GDLs are wet very poorly by most liquids. About 40% of the total surface free energy values was related to a polar component allowing dipole-dipole and hydrogen bonding interactions with water. The origin of this polar character is discussed. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.