Ex-situ experimental study on dynamic behaviors and detachment characteristics of liquid water in a transparent channel of PEMFC

Yin, Yan; Yu, Li; Qin, Yanzhou; Li, Mengjie; Liu, Guokun; Zhang, Junfeng; Zhao, Jian

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2022.02.031

Cited by 22 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…PEMFCs are usually operated in wet condition to maintain high proton conductivity in the membrane and minimize the Ohmic polarization loss . However, in the future, the PEMFC system will be further developed to cope with various operating conditions. , Therefore, the water management efficiency of the GDL under dry conditions should also be evaluated. In this work, the reactant gases supplied for the anode and cathode were controlled at 20, 40, 70, and 100% RH.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Control Mechanism of a Modified Buffer Layer on Interfacial Mass Transfer Efficiency for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell at Varying Humidity

Chen,

Lin

2024

J. Phys. Chem. C

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the most important devices for the conversion of hydrogen energy to electricity. However, it is difficult to obtain an interfacial gas−liquid mass transfer balance at varying humidity. In this work, buffer layers were prepared at the interface of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) and catalyst layer. Different inorganic oxides (SiO 2 , Al 2 O 3 , and CeO 2 ) were used to modify the morphology, hydrophobicity, and gas permeability. It is found that particle size and agglomeration degree in the slurry significantly influence the physicochemical characteristic of buffer layers. The membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) were operated at varying humidity levels to evaluate water management efficiency. Compared with a commercial GDL, these buffer layers effectively improve the interfacial mass transfer balance. Significantly, for the buffer layer containing CeO 2 , the rough surface and porous structure accelerated oxygen transfer and water removal. The mean maximum power density at varying humidity was 1.562 W cm −2 , which was 16.6% higher than that of an MEA containing a commercial GDL. In addition, the phenomenon of the gas−liquid separate flow process was also verified by interfacial two-phase flow simulation. According to electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, the charge transfer resistance and mass transfer resistance of MEAs containing a buffer layer were effectively controlled. In summary, this paper pointed out a novel strategy to improve the interfacial mass transfer efficiency of PEMFCs at complex operating conditions.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Control Mechanism of a Modified Buffer Layer on Interfacial Mass Transfer Efficiency for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell at Varying Humidity

Chen,

Lin

2024

J. Phys. Chem. C

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…By capturing the migration process of droplets in the flow channel, it is found that higher surface contact angle and air velocity can accelerate the flow of droplets. Yin et al [5] observed the droplet growth and detachment process in the flow channel through an ex-situ experiment and found that increasing the air flow rate can reduce both the droplet detachment time and the detachment size. The effects of surface wettability, air flow rate, droplet size, and distribution are usually studied in the literature, and there is seemingly a lack of sufficient literature on the effect of temperature.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Simulation of droplet removal processes in proton exchange membrane fuel cell flow channel using lattice Boltzmann method

Jiang,

Liao,

Yang

et al. 2024

International Conference on Optoelectronic Materials and Devices (ICOMD 2023)

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…[ 7 ] Especially in extreme cold weather, massive vapor condensation happens right at the beginning of start‐ups, which would likely block the MEA and shorten the lifespan of PEMFCs, known also as “water flooding”. [ 8 ]…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[7] Especially in extreme cold weather, massive vapor condensation happens right at the beginning of startups, which would likely block the MEA and shorten the lifespan of PEMFCs, known also as "water flooding". [8] The surface modifications for stainless steel (SS) BPs are mainly aimed to increase the interfacial contact resistance (ICR) and anticorrosion prosperities, which can be divided into metal-based coatings (gold), carbon-based coatings (CNTs or graphene), and conductive polymers (polyaniline) coatings. The metal surface coating undoubtedly increases the manufacturing cost and process complexity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Superhydrophobic Stainless Steel Bipolar Plates with Fractal Structure for Fuel Cells by Nanosecond Laser Ablation

Yang

Zhang

et al. 2022

Adv Eng Mater

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Bipolar plate (BP) is one of the crucial components in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In extreme cold weather, massive vapor condensation happens right at vehicle start‐ups, which likely causes “water flooding” and thus shortens the lifespan of PEMFCs. Herein, a superhydrophobic stainless steel bipolar plate (SH‐SS BP) that is fabricated by nanosecond laser ablation is reported. Through a repeated low‐energy processing strategy, fractal surface microstructure is fabricated, which has not been reported for SS BP. By grafting stearic acid (SA) monolayer, a robust SH‐SS BP is obtained with a contact angle of 151.74°. The fractal microstructure greatly enhances the contact area between SH‐SS BP and membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which improves interfacial contact resistance (ICR: 9.816 mΩ cm2 at 1.5 MPa). The SH‐SS BP shows significantly enhanced anticorrosion performance (Icorr= 8.191×10‐8 A cm−2) by effectively reducing penetration of corrosive. The ability of improving water management in PEMFC under extreme cold condition is further demonstrated in a simulated PEMFC. This study opens new opportunity to reinforce metallic BPs by a simple, low‐cost, and robust route, which is valuable in improving comprehensive weather fastness of PEMFC.

show abstract

Ex-situ experimental study on dynamic behaviors and detachment characteristics of liquid water in a transparent channel of PEMFC

Cited by 22 publications

References 39 publications

Control Mechanism of a Modified Buffer Layer on Interfacial Mass Transfer Efficiency for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell at Varying Humidity

Control Mechanism of a Modified Buffer Layer on Interfacial Mass Transfer Efficiency for a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell at Varying Humidity

Simulation of droplet removal processes in proton exchange membrane fuel cell flow channel using lattice Boltzmann method

Superhydrophobic Stainless Steel Bipolar Plates with Fractal Structure for Fuel Cells by Nanosecond Laser Ablation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About