Article
Chemistry, Physical
Thuc Vu Dong, Vo Dinh Cong Tinh, Dukjoon Kim
Summary: Ether-free sulfonated poly(fluorene biphenyl indole)s (SPFBI) membranes with high chemical stability and high proton conductivity were synthesized. These membranes showed comparable performance to commercial Pemion membranes and demonstrated excellent cell performance and stability.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2023)
Article
Polymer Science
Prem P. Sharma, Vo Dinh Cong Tinh, Dukjoon Kim
Summary: Enhancement in ion cluster size of sulfonated poly (arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES)-based membranes was successfully achieved by encapsulating basic pendent branches as side groups, leading to improved proton conductivity and excellent chemical stability. The synthesized hybrid membrane demonstrated potential application in electrochemical and proton exchange membrane fuel cell applications with stable performance.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Lili Liu, Yao Lu, Cong Ning, Na Li, Shouwen Chen, Zhaoxia Hu
Summary: Structure design plays a crucial role in preparing proton exchange membranes (PEMs) with excellent performance. In this study, a series of comb-shaped sulfonated fluorinated poly(aryl ether sulfone) (SPFAES) membranes were synthesized and demonstrated improved proton conductivity and physicochemical stability compared to linear SPFAE membranes. These findings offer a promising example for the synthesis of high-performance PEMs with flexible comb-shaped side chains.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2022)
Review
Energy & Fuels
Nur Ain Masleeza Harun, Norazuwana Shaari, Nik Farah Hanis Nik Zaiman
Summary: SPEEK is recognized as a promising alternative PEM in fuel cell applications due to its advantageous properties, but its proton conductivity is influenced by the degree of sulfonation. While high DS of SPEEK can produce high proton conductivity, excessive production of DS may have side effects on membrane stability. Therefore, finding the optimal DS of SPEEK is crucial for fabricating PEM alternatives.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Polymer Science
Jieun Choi, Minkyu Kyeong, Minsung Kim, Sang-Soo Lee, Bora Seo, Hyun Seo Park, Hee-Young Park, Dirk Henkensmeier, So Young Lee, Hyoung-Juhn Kim
Summary: The study found that the aliphatic moiety in sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) backbone plays a significant role, with partially alkylated SPAES having lower glass transition temperatures, which are beneficial for preparing electrolyte membranes of proton exchange membrane fuel cells.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Diao Yuan, Yajun Qin, Songsong Li, Shenghua Du, Yaoyao Xu, Qiang Weng, Pei Chen, Xinbing Chen, Zhongwei An
Summary: A novel monomer DFTMTE was synthesized and utilized to prepare densely sulfonated copolymer membranes with high ion exchange capacity and conductivity, exhibiting significantly improved performance compared to commercially available membranes, attributed to excellent microphase separation and quinoxaline-based crosslinking.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2021)
Article
Engineering, Electrical & Electronic
W. Mabrouk, K. Charradi, H. Maghraoui-Meherzi, A. Alhussein, Sherif M. A. S. Keshk
Summary: An electrolytic membrane for fuel cell application was synthesized by blending sulfonated poly ether sulfone octyl sulfonamide (SPESOS) with montmorillonite (MMT) clay. The resulting composite membranes exhibited improved thermal properties and proton conductivity compared to the pristine SPESOS membrane. Thus, the MMT/SPESOS composite membrane is a promising material for electrolytic membranes in fuel cells above 100 degrees C.
JOURNAL OF ELECTRONIC MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Ji Eun Park, Junghwan Kim, Jusung Han, Kihyun Kim, SungBin Park, Sungjun Kim, Hyun S. Park, Yong-Hun Cho, Jong-Chan Lee, Yung-Eun Sung
Summary: The sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) with a 50 mol.% degree of sulfonation, SPAES50, has been successfully synthesized for use in hydrocarbon-based membrane and ionomer applications in proton-exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE). The SPAES50 membrane and the SPAES50-based ionomer (P50) were found to exhibit excellent physical and electrochemical properties, leading to higher performance in PEMWE compared to the commercial Nafion (TM) membrane and ionomer. This study demonstrates the great potential of SPAES50 as a hydrocarbon-based membrane and ionomer for PEMWE applications.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2021)
Article
Polymer Science
Jingmei Xu, Lingxin Meng, Qingyuan Shi, Qiang Ren, Zhe Wang
Summary: In this study, sulfonated poly (ether ketone sulfone)s polymers with long sulfonic acid alkyl side chains and amino groups were successfully prepared and cross-linked membranes were obtained. These cross-linked composite membranes showed excellent properties, including good mechanical properties, methanol resistance and thermal stability. The water uptake, dimensional stability and proton conductivity of the membrane were effectively improved. Therefore, these long-side chains functionalized cross-linked sulfonated poly (ether ketone sulfone)s proton exchange membranes have potential applications in fuel cells.
JOURNAL OF POLYMER RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Poonkuzhali Kulasekaran, Berlina Maria Mahimai, Gandhimathi Sivasubramanian, Hemalatha Pushparaj, Paradesi Deivanayagam
Summary: A polymer composite membrane composed of zinc-trimesic acid based metal-organic framework (ZT-MOF) and sulfonated poly(ether ether sulfone) (SPEES) has been fabricated for proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The composite membrane shows favorable properties such as ion exchange capacity, proton conductivity, and water uptake ability.
POLYMER ENGINEERING AND SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Ping-Yen Chen, Tse-Han Chiu, Fan-Jie Lin, Jyh-Chien Chen
Summary: Two novel tetraamines have been synthesized, and polybenzimidazoles with outstanding thermal stability, solubility, and oxidative stability have been prepared. The resulting membranes exhibit excellent tensile strength, proton conductivity, and peak power density, making them promising candidates for high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) applications.
JOURNAL OF MEMBRANE SCIENCE
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
D. Vidhyeswari, A. Surendhar, S. Bhuvaneshwari
Summary: By incorporating CNTs into the SPEEK membrane, the composite membrane shows improved properties, including water uptake capacity and ion exchange capacity. The power density of the composite membrane is 2 times higher than that of the pristine membrane. The composite membrane with 0.75% CNT-SPEEK exhibits the highest power density.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Zhuoyu Yin, Haobo Geng, Pengfei Yang, Benbing Shi, Chunyang Fan, Quan Peng, Hong Wu, Zhongyi Jiang
Summary: A sulfonated covalent organic framework nanosheets (TpPa-SO3H) were synthesized and incorporated into SPEEK matrix to prepare proton exchange membranes with increased ion exchange capacity and reduced swelling ratio. The SPEEK/TpPa-SO3H-5 membrane exhibited significantly improved proton conductivity and mechanical strength, leading to favorable performance in a single H-2/O-2 fuel cell.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2021)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Tao Wang, Si Li, Tanner Corrado, Lingyu Yang, Jennifer L. Schaefer, Ruilan Guo
Summary: A facile design of sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) multi-block copolymer membranes with selectively cross-linked hydrophobic domains for proton exchange membranes was developed. The cross-linked membranes showed significantly improved dimensional stability and proton conductivity compared to the cross-linked random copolymers. The cross-linked multiblock copolymer membrane outperformed Nafion over the full relative humidity range at the highest ion exchange capacity level and the longest block length.
ACS APPLIED POLYMER MATERIALS
(2022)
Article
Multidisciplinary Sciences
Bita Soleimani, Ali Haghighi Asl, Behnam Khoshandam, Khadijeh Hooshyari
Summary: The addition of ZIF-90 in the SPEES matrix enhances the proton conductivity and maximum power density of PEMFC, resulting in significant improvement in performance.
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Multidisciplinary
Junsheng Zheng, Yuhang Peng, Runlin Fan, Jing Chen, Zize Zhan, Dongmei Yao, Pingwen Ming
Summary: This study comprehensively investigated the influence of conductive filler on the properties of graphite composite bipolar plates in order to balance conductivity and flexural strength. Phenolic resin was used as the binder, natural flake graphite as the conductive substrate, and different functional carbon materials as auxiliary fillers. The results showed that the particle size of the conductive substrate significantly affected the conductivity enhancement of the auxiliary filler. Furthermore, the effects of various auxiliary filler concentrations on improving electrical conductivity and flexural strength were examined. This research has significant implications for achieving a balance between electrical conductivity and flexural strength in graphite composite bipolar plates.
CHINESE CHEMICAL LETTERS
(2023)
Article
Thermodynamics
Tiankuo Chu, Qianwen Tang, Qinpu Wang, Yanbo Wang, Hong Du, YuQing Guo, Bing Li, Daijun Yang, Pingwen Ming, Cunman Zhang
Summary: In this study, durability tests were conducted on two stacks with different channel depths of PEMFC for 1000 h on a 1 kW fuel cell stack test platform. The overall performance change of the stack was detected and the membrane electrode assembly was characterized. The mechanism of membrane degradation and hydrogen crossover was analyzed using first principle calculation, and some durability experimental results were explained. Results showed that the durability of the PEMFC with a shallow flow channel was worse, with significant voltage drops and increased hydrogen crossover after 500 h. The chemical structure change of the membrane caused by free radical attack was revealed by the first principle calculation. This paper reveals the mechanism of hydrogen crossover and its influence on the catalyst layer, offering insights to improve the durability of PEMFC.
Review
Chemistry, Physical
Shengnan Xu, Peiyi Liao, Daijun Yang, Zhilong Li, Bing Li, Pingwen Ming, Xiangyang Zhou
Summary: This review examines the proper water management in gas flow channels of a PEMFC, focusing on droplet dynamics and flow patterns. The main factors affecting droplet dynamics are identified and analyzed, and strategies for improving the performance of low-temperature PEMFCs through liquid water removal are discussed.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Meng Xie, Tiankuo Chu, Xiaolei Wang, Bing Li, Daijun Yang, Pingwen Ming, Cunman Zhang
Summary: Insufficient durability remains a limitation for the large-scale commercialization of fuel cells. This study investigates the role of catalysts and supports in the degradation process. The results show that self-made catalysts have better durability than commercial ones, indicating that the catalyst layer binding network based on mesoporous carbon plays a crucial role in ensuring stability.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2023)
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
Qitong Shi, Cong Feng, Fumin Tang, Bing Li, Pingwen Ming, Cunman Zhang
Summary: This study utilized X-ray computed tomography to obtain the fiber distribution and intersection of uncompressed CFP, and established an analytical model of bulk resistance based on the electron transfer path. The results showed that the increase in electron paths and the variation of the contact state were the main factors for the decrease in bulk resistance under compression. The turning points in the contact state curve can be used to assess the mechanical properties of CFP and determine the optimal pressure for fuel cell assembly.
MATERIALS CHEMISTRY AND PHYSICS
(2023)
Article
Thermodynamics
Yuqi Han, Weilin Zhuge, Jie Peng, Yuping Qian, Pingwen Ming, Yangjun Zhang
Summary: This paper proposes a novel design of heat pipe bipolar plates (HPBP) to reduce the volume of heat pipe cooled stack and improve the power density of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. Compared to ultra-thin flat heat pipes (UTFHP), the HPBP could significantly reduce the stack volume while maintaining comparable heat load and improve temperature uniformity. System-level evaluations show that the PEMFC system with HPBP cooling exhibits higher gravimetric and volumetric power densities than that with conventional liquid cooling.
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Fumin Tang, Cunman Zhang, Pingwen Ming
Summary: Various electrocatalysts developed for the cathode of PEMFC show better performance on a rotating disk electrode (RDE) compared to being assembled in the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), but this phenomenon has not been quantitatively explained yet. In this study, the Butler-Volmer equation is further developed based on the detailed disassembly of the elemental reaction processes on the cathodic catalyst surface and in the MEA. These analytical equations quantitatively indicate how the catalyst's structural parameters and the electrode's microstructural parameters influence the catalyst's performance. Further analysis reveals that optimizing the structure of the catalytic layer can potentially improve the PEMFC's current density by more than one order of magnitude when using traditional catalysts like Pt/C. However, increasing hydrogen permeation not only reduces the open-circuit voltage but also decreases the PEMFC's lifetime. The established equations in this work, derived from strict mathematical and physical deductions, provide new guidance for evaluating and improving the performance of electrocatalysts in MEA assembly.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Wei He, Fumin Tang, Xiang Li, Cunman Zhang, Pingwen Ming
Summary: This paper quantitatively studies the degradation mechanism of the catalyst layer in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) after 100 hours, 225 hours, and 650 hours of durability tests. The results indicate that the agglomeration of Pt particles is the main reason for degradation in the first 100 hours, accounting for 80%. Catalyst dissolution and the loss of proton connectivity caused by the ionomer are the main factors for degradation between 225 and 650 hours, increasing from 23% to 46%. Additionally, the corrosion of the carbon support inside the catalyst layer intensifies with test time. This study provides important guidance for the structural design of long-life fuel cells.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Peiyi Liao, Daijun Yang, Xiangmin Pan, Bing Li, Pingwen Ming, Zhilong Li
Summary: Efficient water transfer is crucial for enhancing the performance of PEMFCs. This study investigates the behavior of two-phase flow in fuel cells and analyzes the causes of loading failure. Experimental results show that slug flow can be converted into film flow, improving the success rate and efficiency of the load change process.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Analytical
Fumin Tang, Zheng Tang, Yange Yang, Bing Li, Cunman Zhang, Pingwen Ming
Summary: In this paper, a general expression is developed to quantify the relationship among the measured signals in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) by decomposing the electrochemical processes. The theoretical polarization curves derived from this expression are confirmed by experiments, clarifying the intrinsic relevancies among these electrochemical methods. This work would help develop a new evaluation methodology for PEMFCs.
JOURNAL OF ELECTROANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Miao Li, Pingwen Ming, Ran Huo, Hailin Mu
Summary: This paper conducted a comprehensive study on the economic assessments of hydrogen delivery pathways, focusing on hydrogen transportation as a breakthrough. By developing a specific transportation model and conducting a case study in Shanghai, China, the feasibility and cost reduction pathways of various hydrogen delivery methods were explored. The research found that gas-hydrogen trailers are feasible for short distances, while liquid-hydrogen tank trucks are more economic for long distances. The transportation cost of these methods can be significantly reduced by increasing storage pressure and liquefaction scale, but pipelines have an economic advantage when utilization rate is high.
JOURNAL OF RENEWABLE AND SUSTAINABLE ENERGY
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Hong Lv, Yahao Shen, Tao Zheng, Wei Zhou, Pingwen Ming, Cunman Zhang
Summary: As the use of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCVs) increases, ensuring their safety level is equivalent to gasoline vehicles is crucial. This study utilized the FLACS software to evaluate the behavior of hydrogen release, dispersion, and flame propagation in an outdoor parking space with multiple HFCVs. The effects of leak diameter, release direction, and parking configuration on the formation of a flammable gas cloud (FGC) were examined. The study highlights the importance of TPRD diameters and parking configurations for the safe introduction of HFCVs in existing outdoor parking spaces and infrastructure.
RENEWABLE & SUSTAINABLE ENERGY REVIEWS
(2023)
Article
Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence
Bowen Wang, Zijun Yang, Mingxi Ji, Jing Shan, Meng Ni, Zhongjun Hou, Jun Cai, Xin Gu, Xinjie Yuan, Zhichao Gong, Qing Du, Yan Yin, Kui Jiao
Summary: This study utilizes a deep learning model to predict the dynamic performance of PEMFC. By conducting sensitivity analysis on input features and removing insensitive features, the prediction accuracy is improved, and data volume is reduced. Optimizing neural structure, sequence duration, and sampling frequency further enhances the model performance.
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Zijun Hu, Song Lu, Fumin Tang, Daijun Yang, Cunman Zhang, Qiangfeng Xiao, Pingwen Ming
Summary: Anion exchange membrane-based direct ammonia fuel cells (AEM-DAFCs) have attracted attention due to the advantages of ammonia. However, high Pt loading in the anode limits their practical implementation. In this study, Ni4Cu1Cox (x = 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0)-BP catalysts were prepared and the best ammonia oxidation reaction (AOR) performance was achieved at x = 1.5. The AEM-DAFC based on Ni4Cu1Co1.5-BP anode showed the highest peak power density (PPD) among precious metal-free electrodes-based AEM-DAFCs, making it a promising candidate for anode catalyst in AEM-DAFCs.
APPLIED CATALYSIS B-ENVIRONMENTAL
(2023)
Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Xiang Li, Fumin Tang, Qianqian Wang, Bing Li, Haifeng Dai, Guofeng Chang, Cunman Zhang, Pingwen Ming
Summary: The effect of ionomer spatial distribution on oxygen and proton transport in the cathode catalyst layer (CCL) of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has been studied. The assumption of a mean spatial distribution for ionomer tends to underestimate cell performance, as the actual spatial distribution leads to higher proton transport resistance but greater oxygen concentration. This study provides guidance for future PEMFC models.
