Proton exchange membrane fuel cell（PEMFC） is considered as the most promising power source for improving the endurance of small unmanned aerial vehicles， and it is also one of the future development directions of green aviation. Its performance determines the mission capabilities of unmanned aerial vehicles. The bipolar plate is a key component in PEMFC， and the flow channel structure in the bipolar plate also determines the water and heat management， mass transport and current density distribution of PEMFC， which profoundly affects the overall performance of the fuel cell. Different structures have their own advantages and disadvantages. In order to provide important guidance for channel design and improvement under different application backgrounds， we need to fully understand the effect of channel structures on fuel cell’s performance. Therefore， in this paper， the existing conventional and new bipolar channel structures are summarized and the influence of different channel structure characteristics on PEMFC performance is also analyzed. In addition， this paper explores the efficient channel structure design scheme， including the cross-section shape， length and number， width and baffle position and so on， to enhance the performance of PEMFC.