Proton exchange membrane fuel cell

• Perspective • 14 July 2021 Designing the next generation of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1296-1330 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6718-9018 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6246-3479 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1574-6679 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5536-5838 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-4583-2287 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6722-6555 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4291-7709 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2287-0544 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9081-036X • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8023-678X • • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1655-6831 • … • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2619-6809 Show authors Nature volume 595, pages 361–369 ( 2021) With the rapid growth and development of proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology, there has been increasing demand for clean and sustainable global energy applications. Of the many device-level and infrastructure challenges that need to be overcome before wide commercialization can be realized, one of the most critical ones is increasing the PEMFC power density, and ambitious goals have been proposed globally. For example, the short- and long-term power density goals of Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization are 6 kilowatts per litre by 2030 and 9 kilowatts per litre by 2040, respectively. To this end, here we propose technical development directions for next-generation high-power-density PEMFCs. We present the latest ideas for improvements in the membrane electrode assembly a...

Low temperature cells The proton exchange membrane (a.k.a. polymer electrolyte membrane) fuel cell uses a polymeric electrolyte. This proton-conducting polymer forms the heart of each cell and electrodes (usually made of porous carbon with catalytic platinum incorporated into them) are bonded to either side of it to form a one-piece membrane-electrode assembly (MEA). A quick overview of some key advantages that make PEMs such a promising technology for the automotive markets: • Low temperature operation, and hence • Quick start up • No corrosive liquids involved • Will work in any orientation (or zero g for that matter) • Thin Membrane-electrode assemblies allow compact cells Brief history The PEM fuel cell was developed in the 1960’s in General Electric’s labs. As with so many technologies, the space program and military funded research fast-forwarded it’s development. PEM membranes were first applied to a US Navy project and projects for the US Signal Corps. PEM cells were used in NASA’s Gemini program, which was to serve as a means of testing technology for the Apollo missions. Batteries were not suitable for a journey to the moon because of the extended flight duration. Early PEM systems were, however, unreliable and plagued with leakages and contamination. The systems installed in Gemini spaceships had an operational lifetime of just 500 hrs, although this was considered suitable. Another issue was the water management systems, which are required to keep the membrane ...

Process description A hydrogen fueled 2) and oxygen (O 2) to produce electricity and water (H 2O); a regenerative hydrogen fuel cell uses electricity and water to produce hydrogen and oxygen. When the fuel cell is operated in regenerative mode, the anode for the electricity production mode (fuel cell mode) becomes the cathode in the hydrogen generation mode (reverse fuel cell mode), and vice versa. When an external voltage is applied, water at the anode side will undergo electrolysis to form oxygen and protons; protons will be transported through the solid electrolyte to the cathode where they can be reduced to form hydrogen. In this reverse mode, the polarity of the cell is opposite to that for the fuel cell mode. The following reactions describe the chemical process in the hydrogen generation mode: At cathode: H 2O + 2e − → H 2 + O 2− At anode: O 2− → 1/2O 2 + 2e − Overall: H 2O → 1/2O 2 + H 2 Solid oxide regenerative fuel cell One example of RFC is solid oxide regenerative fuel cell. The electrolyte can be O 2− conducting and/or proton (H +) conducting. The state of the art for O 2− conducting yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) based SORFC using Ni–YSZ as the hydrogen electrode and LSM (or LSM–YSZ) as the oxygen electrode has been actively studied. −2 and 100% Faraday efficiency at only 1.07 V. Current density–voltage ( j–V) curves and impedance spectra are investigated and recorded. Impedance spectra are realized applying an ac current of 1–2A RMS (root-mean-square) in t...

Contents • 1 Science • 1.1 Reactions • 1.2 Polymer electrolyte membrane • 1.2.1 Strengths • 1.2.2 Weaknesses • 1.2.3 Electrodes • 1.2.4 Gas diffusion layer • 1.2.5 Efficiency • 1.3 Bipolar plates • 1.4 Metal-organic frameworks • 1.5 Catalyst research • 1.5.1 Increasing catalytic activity • 1.5.2 Reducing poisoning • 1.5.3 Lowering cost • 2 Applications • 3 History • 4 See also • 5 References • 6 External links Further information: A proton exchange membrane fuel cell transforms the A stream of hydrogen is delivered to the At the anode: H 2 → 2 H + + 2 e − The reversible reaction is expressed in the equation and shows the reincorporation of the hydrogen protons and electrons together with the oxygen molecule and the formation of one water molecule. The potentials in each case are given with respect to the Polymer electrolyte membrane To function, the membrane must conduct hydrogen ions (protons) but not electrons as this would in effect " gas crossover. Splitting of the hydrogen Strengths 1. Easy sealing PEMFCs have a thin, polymeric membrane as the electrolyte. This membrane is located in between the anode and cathode catalysts and allows the passage of protons to pass to the cathode while restricting the passage of electrons. Compared to liquid electrolytes, a polymeric membrane has a much lower chance of leakage [2]. The proton-exchange membrane is commonly made of materials such as perfluorosulfonic acid (PSFA) or Nafion, which minimize gas crossover and short circuiti...

• Article • • 14 February 2023 Large-scale physically accurate modelling of real proton exchange membrane fuel cell with deep learning • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-0370-4751 • • • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5967-5120 • • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-9527-7912 • • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-3564-2380 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8545-3126 • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1387-9531 • • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-7007-5946 • … • ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6431-7902 Show authors Nature Communications volume 14, Article number: 745 ( 2023) Proton exchange membrane fuel cells, consuming hydrogen and oxygen to generate clean electricity and water, suffer acute liquid water challenges. Accurate liquid water modelling is inherently challenging due to the multi-phase, multi-component, reactive dynamics within multi-scale, multi-layered porous media. In addition, currently inadequate imaging and modelling capabilities are limiting simulations to small areas (<1 mm 2) or simplified architectures. Herein, an advancement in water modelling is achieved using X-ray micro-computed tomography, deep learned super-resolution, multi-label segmentation, and direct multi-phase simulation. The resulting image is the most resolved domain (16 mm 2 with 700 nm voxel resolution) and the largest direct multi-phase flow simulation of a fuel cell. This generalisable approach unveils multi-scale water clustering and transport mechanisms over large dry and flooded areas in the gas diffusion layer and flow field...