A fully parameterized microscale model for lithium ion cells is presented in which the solid and pores (filled by electrolyte) are spatially resolved, and the mass and charge transport equations describing diffusion and migration in each phase are solved separately. Such a model allows: (1) the correlation of structure-scale, non-homogeneous material properties with macroscopic battery performance, and (2) the correlation of geometrical electrode morphology with macroscopic battery performance (electrode design). The micro-model approach discussed here allows for a simpler parameterization as fewer constitutive relations are needed in contrast to the macro-homogenous physical-based approaches. Input parameters were measured experimentally on lithium manganese oxide electrodes and LiPF 6 in 3:7 EC:DMC. Verification and validation for the model is also reported.

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Limiting current measurements are used to derive estimates of oxygen transport resistance through the cathode diffusion medium/micro-porous layer (DM/MPL) of a fuel cell. For the case of unteflonated Toray 060 (without an MPL), the estimates are compared to ex situ measurements of the effective diffusion coefficient for water vapor. For dry operating conditions at low currents, the comparison shows that the large majority of transport resistance detected by limiting current occurs in the Toray 060 and not through ionomer or water layers in the electrode. Effective diffusion coefficients at wetter conditions, derived from limiting currents, show a clear dependence on current density and thus on water production. An example of this behavior is given for SGL 25 BC (a DM with MPL).

During the past few years, the feasibility of using polymer electrolyte fuel cells in automotive power trains at an impressive performance level has been proven repeatedly. However, current fuel cell stacks are still largely based on decade‐old polymer electrolyte membrane technology thus limiting performance, durability, reliability, and cost of the fuel cell systems. The major challenge for membrane R&D constitutes the demand for polymer electrolytes that allow for system operation at higher temperatures and lower water management requirements without increased conduction losses. None the less, demanding automotive requirements will not compromise on other properties such as mechanical and chemical stability and gas permeability.

SummaryNanoporous materials play an important role in modern batteries as well as fuel cells. The materials microstructure needs to be analyzed as it determines the electrochemical properties. However, the microstructure is too fine to be resolved by microcomputed tomography. The method of choice to analyze the microstructure is focused ion beam nanotomography (FIB-SEM). However, the reconstruction of the porous 3D microstructure from FIB-SEM image data in general has been an unsolved problem so far. In this paper, we present a new method using morphological operations. First, features are extracted from the data. Subsequently, these features are combined to an initial segmentation, that is then refined by a constrained watershed transformation. We evaluate our method with synthetic data, generated by a simulation of the FIB-SEM imaging process. We compare the ground truth in the simulated data to the segmentation result. The new method is found to produce a much smaller error than existing techniques.