Investigation of time dependent water droplet dynamics on porous fuel cell material via synchrotron based X-ray imaging technique

Rahimian, Paria; Battrell, Logan; Anderson, Ryan; Zhu, Ning; Johnson, Erick; Zhang, Lifeng

doi:10.1016/j.expthermflusci.2018.04.021

Cited by 36 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…One of the major problems that need to be overcome in order to evolve the stability and efficiency of fuel cells is water management. The role of the GDL in the PEM fuel cells is to create a pore path for the reactant and to remove the water as a result of the reaction . The liquid water starts from the pore paths of the GDL from micrometer scaled and reaches the gas flow channels into millimeter scaled as a droplet.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The static contact angle of graphite is in between 75° and 86°; this hydrophobicity can resist water removal. One of the most common strategies to enhance surface hydrophobicity is adding hydrophobic agents such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), poly (tetrafluoroethylene co‐perfluoro propyl vinyl ether) (PFA), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), polyvnyl fluoride (PVF), polyehtylene (PE), and polystyrene to facilitate water removal …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The role of the GDL in the PEM fuel cells is to create a pore path for the reactant and to remove the water as a result of the reaction. 3 The liquid water starts from the pore paths of the GDL from micrometer scaled and reaches the gas flow channels into millimeter scaled as a droplet. The liquid water in the form of a droplet, which reaches certain dimensions, is removed by the convective gas flow.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One of the most common strategies to enhance surface hydrophobicity is adding hydrophobic agents such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), poly (tetrafluoroethylene co-perfluoro propyl vinyl ether) (PFA), polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), polyvnyl fluoride (PVF), polyehtylene (PE), and polystyrene to facilitate water removal. 3,5,6 In the literature, there are several studies on water management. Lim and Wang investigated the effect of FEP that is a hydrophobic polymer, on the hydrophobicity of the catalyst layer.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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PEMFC catalyst layer modification with the addition of different amounts of PDMS polymer in order to improve water management

Ungan

Yurtcan

2019

Int J Energy Res

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Summary The balance between preventing water flooding and adequate humidification of the membrane will provide a significant contribution to proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell performance. For this purpose, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS), a hydrophobic polymer, was added to the catalyst layer of the fuel cell at different amounts including 5, 10, and 20 wt%. The performances of the fuel cells including PDMS were compared with the commercial catalyst. Morphological changes of the gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) were confirmed by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to determine the functional groups and contact angle measurements were used to determine the hydrophobic characteristics. Cyclic voltammetry (CV), impedance, and oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) analysis were performed for electrochemical characterization and degradation behaviors. In situ PEM fuel cell tests were performed in order to define the best catalyst ink combination that include PDMS. The results of the cyclic voltammograms proved that the electrochemical surface area (ECSA) increased with the increasing amount of PDMS. The highest ECSA of 53.84 m2 g−1 was calculated for catalyst ink with 20‐wt% PDMS. The lowest ECSA loss after aging was observed in the catalyst ink with 10‐wt% PDMS. As a result, the catalyst layer having 10‐wt% PDMS showed the best polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) performance.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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PEMFC catalyst layer modification with the addition of different amounts of PDMS polymer in order to improve water management

Ungan

Yurtcan

2019

Int J Energy Res

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“…One of the biggest factors that hinder the commercialization of PEM fuel cells is the lack of proper water management [8].For this reason, water management is crucial to improve the performance of PEM fuel cells. It has been recognized in recent studies that the wettability of GDL surfaces is critical to keep fuel cells fully viable at high-current densities [9].…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Water management improvement in PEM fuel cells via addition of PDMS or APTES polymers to the catalyst layer

Ungan

Yurtcan

2020

Turk J Chem

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Water management is one of the obstacles in the development and commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Sufficient humidification of the membrane directly affects the PEM fuel cell performance. Therefore, 2 different hydrophobic polymers, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and (3-Aminopropyl) triethoxysilane (APTES), were tested at different percentages (5, 10, and 20 wt.%) in the catalyst layer. The solution was loaded onto the surface of a 25 BC gas diffusion layer (GDL) via the spraying method. The performance of the obtained fuel cells was compared with the performance of the commercial catalyst. Characterizations of each surface, including different amounts of PDMS and APTES, were performed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) analyses. Molecular bond characterization was examined via Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis and surface hydrophobicity was measured via contact angle measurements. The performance of the fuel cells was evaluated at the PEM fuel cell test station and the 2 hydrophobic polymers were compared. Surfaces containing APTES were found to be more hydrophobic. Fuel cells with PDMS performed better when compared to those with APTES. Fuel cells with 5wt.% APTES with a current density of 321.31 mA/cm2and power density of 0.191 W/cm2, and 10wt.% PDMS with a current density of 344.52 mA/cm2and power density of 0.205 W/cm2 were the best performing fuel cells at 0.6V.

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Mass transport in the cathode

Fan

Bao

Diaz

et al. 2023

Fuel Cells for Transportation

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Investigation of time dependent water droplet dynamics on porous fuel cell material via synchrotron based X-ray imaging technique

Cited by 36 publications

References 47 publications

PEMFC catalyst layer modification with the addition of different amounts of PDMS polymer in order to improve water management

PEMFC catalyst layer modification with the addition of different amounts of PDMS polymer in order to improve water management

Water management improvement in PEM fuel cells via addition of PDMS or APTES polymers to the catalyst layer

Mass transport in the cathode

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