Xu, Linlin;
Trogadas, Panagiotis;
Zhou, Shangwei;
Jiang, Shuxian;
Wu, Yunsong;
Rasha, Lara;
Kockelmann, Winfried;
... Coppens, Marc-Olivier; + view all
(2024)
A Scalable and Robust Water Management Strategy for PEMFCs: Operando Electrothermal Mapping and Neutron Imaging Study.
Advanced Science
, Article 2404350. 10.1002/advs.202404350.
(In press).
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Abstract
Effective water management is crucial for the optimal operation of low-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Excessive liquid water production can cause flooding in the gas diffusion electrodes and flow channels, limiting mass transfer and reducing PEMFC performance. To tackle this issue, a nature-inspired chemical engineering (NICE) approach has been adopted that takes cues from the integument structure of desert-dwelling lizards for passive water transport. By incorporating engraved, capillary microchannels into conventional flow fields, PEMFC performance improves significantly, including a 15% increase in maximum power density for a 25 cm2 cell and 13% for a 100 cm2 cell. Electro-thermal maps of the lizard-inspired flow field demonstrate a more uniform spatial distribution of current density and temperature than the conventional design. Neutron radiography provides evidence that capillary microchannels in the lizard-inspired flow field facilitate the efficient transport and removal of generated liquid water, thereby preventing blockages in the reactant channels. These findings present a universally applicable and highly efficient water management strategy for PEMFCs, with the potential for widespread practical implementation for other electrochemical devices.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | A Scalable and Robust Water Management Strategy for PEMFCs: Operando Electrothermal Mapping and Neutron Imaging Study |
| Location: | Germany |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1002/advs.202404350 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/advs.202404350 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
| Keywords: | Science & Technology, Physical Sciences, Technology, Chemistry, Multidisciplinary, Nanoscience & Nanotechnology, Materials Science, Multidisciplinary, Chemistry, Science & Technology - Other Topics, Materials Science, electro-thermal mapping, nature-inspired, neutron radiography, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells, water management, MEMBRANE FUEL-CELL, FLOW-FIELD DESIGN, CURRENT-DENSITY, TEMPERATURE, PERFORMANCE, RIB |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering |
| URI: | https://discovery-pp.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10196943 |
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