Article
Energy & Fuels
Lingchao Xia, Meng Ni, Qijiao He, Qidong Xu, Chun Cheng
Summary: This study investigates the effects of gas diffusion layer (GDL) thickness and porosity on flow uniformity, diffusion flux, and ohmic resistance in a high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) using a numerical non-isothermal 3D model. The research reveals that increasing GDL thickness and porosity leads to higher flow uniformity and ohmic resistance, but the influence on diffusion flux is opposite. The optimal GDL thickness and porosity are identified for improved performance in the fuel cell system.
Article
Materials Science, Multidisciplinary
L. M. G. Silva, G. N. Leocadio, R. F. B. de Souza, J. C. Mierzwa, A. Duong, E. C. Venancio, A. O. Neto
Summary: In this study, the performance of the electrospray technique was utilized to obtain a gas diffusion layer (GDL) for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The PTFE layer impregnated into the backbone was characterized by infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. The use of the GDL prepared by electrospray was shown to increase the maximum power of the H-2/O-2 fuel cell by about 10% and decrease the diffusion loss of the electrode.
MATERIALS TODAY ADVANCES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xuping Mao, Shengnan Liu, Jiaqi Tan, Haoqin Hu, Chenlei Lu, Dongji Xuan
Summary: In this paper, a three-dimensional two-phase isothermal fuel cell model is established based on COMSOL. The influence of the gradient porosity and thickness of the gas diffusion layer, as well as the operating voltage and working pressure of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell on its performance, is analyzed. A neural network proxy model is constructed and a multi-objective genetic optimization algorithm is proposed to improve the uniformity of fuel cell power and oxygen molar concentration distribution. The performance of the fuel cell is improved by 1.45% in terms of power increase and the uniformity of oxygen distribution is improved by 10.28%, prolonging the life of the fuel cell.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2023)
Article
Thermodynamics
Daokuan Jiao, Kui Jiao, Qing Du
Summary: This study investigates water transport in vapor/liquid form in gas diffusion layers of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). The research reveals that liquid water transport is more sensitive to GDL design, while vapor transport is more applicable. The study provides insights for GDL design and optimization to enhance water transport dynamics.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Hyunsoo Chun, Do-Hyung Kim, Hyeon-Seung Jung, Jaebong Sim, Chanho Pak
Summary: The role of gas-diffusion layer (GDL) in high-temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) is different from that in low-temperature PEMFC due to operating conditions and environment. This study analyzed the structural parameters and characteristics of four commercial GDLs in the HT-PEMFC cathode using various methods. It was found that the porosity of GDL, influenced by the crack region of the MPL, had a greater impact on gas transmission than its thickness. The correlation between HT-PEMFC cathode performance and GDL porosity and theoretical gas transmission properties was established.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Daokuan Jiao, Kui Jiao, Qing Du
Summary: A phase change solver was developed to model vapor condensation in reconstructed GDL, finding that GDL without rib had lower water saturation and the growth of liquid water saturation was highly sensitive to local temperature. The rib was not beneficial for oxygen diffusion and hindered condensate water transport, increasing the risks of water flooding.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENERGY RESEARCH
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Mrittunjoy Sarker, Md Azimur Rahman, Felipe Mojica, Shirin Mehrazi, Wilton J. M. Kort-Kamp, Po-Ya Abel Chuang
Summary: Enabling fuel cell operation at high current density requires addressing liquid water management issues, with PTFE impregnation and MPL showing potential performance improvements. Studies using experimental and computational techniques have revealed the effects of these materials, and a model has been developed to simulate fuel cell performance.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
J. P. Owejan, S. G. Goebel
Summary: This paper proposes a fuel cell architecture designed for continuous manufacturing, aiming to improve stack design by integrating all components into a rolled good. Experimental results show that a porous rib cathode flow field has performance advantages under certain operating conditions.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Shuai Liu, Libin Zhang, Zhong Wang, Ruina Li
Summary: The surface microstructure of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) has a significant impact on water removal and flow resistance coefficient, with the sine wave microstructure showing substantial advantages. The peak and period of the sine wave significantly influence water removal and flow resistance coefficient.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2021)
Article
Electrochemistry
Tatyana Reshetenko, Bonnie L. Ben
Summary: The study utilized a previously developed method to determine oxygen mass transport coefficients and evaluate the effects of GDL structure and texture on oxygen mass transfer and PEMFC performance. Findings showed that a lack of MPL in the GDL resulted in higher mass transport coefficients but poorer performance, highlighting the critical role of MPL in water management.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jaebong Sim, Minsoo Kang, Kyoungdoug Min
Summary: The gas diffusion layer (GDL) is a crucial component of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). By varying the porosity and average pore size of the GDL, as well as the arrangement of perforations on the GDL, the performance of fuel cells can be improved.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xuwei Fu, Qinglin Wen, Jinli Han, Jun Wei, Yali Li, Fandi Ning, Xiaochun Zhou
Summary: This work successfully developed a facile method to prepare a gas diffusion layer (GDL) with three functional layers using short carbon fiber and carbon nanotube. The thickness of the GDL can be controlled by adjusting the material content, and it has high flexibility suitable for developing high-performance flexible electronics. The fuel cell with this GDL showed a 19% improvement in power density compared to the conventional method.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
(2022)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Jian Hou, Qiang Li, Changlin Liao, Jiansheng Zhang, Ting He
Summary: This study proposes a model to characterize the effective thermal conductivity of gas diffusion backing (GDB) and obtains input parameters from X-ray computed tomography. The results show that increasing pressure can enhance the effective thermal conductivity of GDB by increasing the contact area between fibers.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2022)
Article
Electrochemistry
Xiang Shangguan, Yu Li, Yanzhou Qin, Shibo Cao, Junfeng Zhang, Yan Yin
Summary: Water management significantly influences the life and power output of PEMFC. This study investigates the liquid water transport in GDL with different porosity distributions using the VOF method. Porosity distribution and contact angle have dramatic influence on water distribution and saturation in GDL. Inverted V shaped porosity GDL tends to have higher water saturation and lower flow rate compared to V shaped porosity, and greater porosity gradient leads to smaller water saturation and flow rate in both porosity distributions.
ELECTROCHIMICA ACTA
(2021)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Xuwei Fu, Jun Wei, Fandi Ning, Chuang Bai, Qinglin Wen, Hanqing Jin, Yali Li, Siyi Zou, Saifei Pan, Jiafan Chen, Shengwei Deng, Xiaochun Zhou
Summary: The study introduces a novel method for producing high-performance carbon paper by combining few-walled carbon nanotubes and short carbon fibers, demonstrating outstanding performance in PEMFC with attributes of high flatness, homogeneity, and thinness.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2022)
Article
Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology
Derek C. Kabernick, Jeff T. Gostick, Valerie C. A. Ward
Summary: The development of cascade cell-free systems and 3D-printing enzyme entrapment in microfluidic reactors can reduce the need for metabolic engineering and optimize in vivo pathway flux. This study successfully synthesized the antimalaria drug precursor, amorphadiene, using a 3D-printed microfluidic reactor with entrapped alkaline phosphatase. However, the technique of stereolithographic enzyme entrapment is still limited in scope.
BIOTECHNOLOGY AND BIOENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Jeff T. Gostick, Niloofar Misaghian, Jianhui Yang, Edo S. Boek
Summary: A new algorithm for simulating volume-controlled invasion of a non-wetting phase into voxel images is presented, offering advantages over traditional pressure-based invasion methods. By incrementally increasing saturation, the algorithm allows for accurate prediction of defending phase trapping and provides a capillary pressure curve with characteristic jumps. Results show that the proposed method is a superset of the morphological approach and can achieve similar results to multiphase lattice Boltzmann simulations in less time.
COMPUTERS & GEOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Computer Science, Interdisciplinary Applications
Niloo Misaghian, Mehrez Agnaou, Mohammad Amin Sadeghi, Hamed Fathiannasab, Isma Hadji, Edward Roberts, Jeff Gostick
Summary: This study develops a deep learning framework to accurately predict the diffusive conductance in porous media by analyzing 3D images of pore regions extracted from tomograms. The results demonstrate high accuracy and significantly improved prediction speed.
COMPUTERS & GEOSCIENCES
(2022)
Article
Electrochemistry
Maxime van der Heijden, Rik van Gorp, Mohammad Amin Sadeghi, Jeffrey Gostick, Antoni Forner-Cuenca
Summary: This study presents a pore network modeling framework to optimize the microstructure of porous electrodes in redox flow batteries. The model is able to simulate the transport phenomena within porous electrodes at a low computational cost. The validation results show that the model successfully captures the performance of non-aqueous electrolyte, but has limitations in accurately modeling the aqueous electrolyte.
JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Eric A. Chadwick, Lucas H. Hammen, Volker P. Schulz, Aimy Bazylak, Marios A. Ioannidis, Jeff T. Gostick
Summary: A new image-based technique that considers the effect of gravity during drainage process was developed and validated in this study. The results showed favorable comparisons with capillary rise and micromodel experiments, and also generated a contour map of expected error to determine when gravitational effects cannot be ignored.
WATER RESOURCES RESEARCH
(2022)
Article
Polymer Science
Kannika Onyu, Rungsima Yeetsorn, Jeff Gostick
Summary: A study investigated the utilization of bipolar plates made of TPVs, synthetic graphite, WCFF, and GS in a VRFB. The introduction of WCFF and GS improved the volumetric and surface electrical conductivity of the composite BPs. The experiment confirmed the feasibility of using the laminated BPs in a VRFB, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis showed good durability and corrosion resistance.
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Michael McKague, Hamed Fathiannasab, Mehrez Agnaou, Mohammad Amin Sadeghi, Jeff Gostick
Summary: Capacitive Deionization (CDI) is an electro-driven water desalination device that utilizes the capacitance and pore structure to store ions for efficient desalination. This study developed a pore network model using electrical double layer (EDL) theories to accurately predict the ion storage and salt content in a CDI cell.
Article
Electrochemistry
Arturo Sanchez-Ramos, Jeff T. Gostick, Pablo A. Garcia-Salaberri
Summary: Under low Pt loading, maximizing the maximum power density can be achieved by using relatively thin catalyst layers with high carbon volume fraction. Under high Pt loading, higher porosity and pore radius are beneficial despite thicker ionomer films.
JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Saeed Ghanbari, Morteza Golmohammadi, Jeff Gostick
Summary: This study focuses on the development and validation of a physics-based full-scale simulation model for emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) systems, which has the capability to simulate similar systems with different geometries and experimental conditions.
CANADIAN JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Environmental
Rik van Gorp, Maxime van der Heijden, Mohammad Amin Sadeghi, Jeffrey Gostick, Antoni Forner-Cuenca
Summary: The optimization of porous electrode microstructures is crucial for enhancing the performance and cost-competitiveness of electrochemical technologies. This study presents a novel approach that combines a genetic algorithm with an electrochemical pore network model for the optimization of redox flow battery electrodes. The algorithm selects the best-performing networks by manipulating the pore and throat size distributions of an artificially generated microstructure, leading to improvements in fluid distribution, pumping power, and electrochemical power. The optimization results in increased surface area and electrochemical performance. This research highlights the potential of using genetic algorithms and pore network models for optimizing porous electrode microstructures.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING JOURNAL
(2023)
Article
Electrochemistry
Niloofar Misaghian, Mohammad Amin Sadeghi, Edward Roberts, Jeff Gostick
Summary: This study reveals the complex relationship of the triple phase boundary in zinc-air flow batteries and sheds light on the interplay between electrolyte invasion and performance through a mathematical framework. The results suggest that increasing electrolyte volume can enhance performance up to a certain saturation point, beyond which further invasion decreases performance.
JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2022)
Article
Electrochemistry
Hao Yu, Mark Pritzker, Jeff Gostick
Summary: The effect of different positive supporting electrolytes on the performance of a bench-scale Zn-Ce redox flow battery was studied. It was found that the mixed methanesulfonic/sulfuric acid electrolyte exhibited faster kinetics, higher coulombic efficiency, and better long-term performance compared to the commonly used 4 mol l(-1) methanesulfonic acid electrolyte. The mixed electrolyte also reduced hydrogen ion crossover and increased cerium ion solubility.
JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Yongwook Kim, Luis P. Urbina, Tristan Asset, Marc Secanell, Plamen Atanassov, Jake Barralet, Jeff T. Gostick
Summary: Non-precious group metal (non-PGM) catalysts can significantly reduce fuel cell costs. However, non-PGM electrodes are made thicker than platinum-based electrodes due to their low volumetric activity. Optimizing the electrode composition is crucial to minimize transport losses.
JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Chemical
Antonio Rodriguez de Castro, Mehrez Agnaou, Jeff Gostick
Summary: Pore network modeling (PNM) is a cost-effective method for simulating pore-scale flow in porous media. However, there is a lack of studies on simulating the flow of non-Newtonian fluids using PNM, and experimental validation is also lacking. Previous research has shown that the choice of pore and throat shapes has a significant impact on the accuracy of the simulations, especially for shear-thinning fluids. This study aims to develop a reliable procedure to predict the flow of Newtonian and shear-thinning fluids using PNM, and the results showed that accurate predictions can be achieved by selecting the appropriate pore shape.
TRANSPORT IN POROUS MEDIA
(2023)
Article
Chemistry, Physical
Kyu Min Lee, Maedeh Pahlevaninezhad, Victoria Smith, Sara Abouali, Francesco P. Orfino, Erik Kjeang, Michael A. Pope, Edward P. L. Roberts, Jeff T. Gostick
Summary: Flow battery electrodes made of compressed electrospun carbon fibers with laser perforations for improved performance were synthesized. The compressed fibers resulted in a reduced porosity and increased volumetric surface area without significantly affecting the in-plane permeability and tortuosity. Flow battery performance tests showed that the compressed samples, with or without laser perforations, outperformed commercial carbon mats, with the perforated samples exhibiting the best performance over the entire current density range.
MATERIALS TODAY ENERGY
(2023)
