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Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells 2017
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Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells 2017

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2017) | Viewed by 22985

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Vladimir Gurau

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Robotics Process Development Laboratory (RPDL), Department of Manufacturing Engineering, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30458, USA
Interests: industrial robots; autonomous vehicles; machine vision; machine learning; advanced manufacturing; fuel cells; renewable energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), also known as proton exchange membrane fuel cell, continues to be one of the most popular types of fuel cells. It is capable of delivering high gravimetric and volumetric power densities and offers the advantages of rapid start-up and good durability compared to other fuel cell types. The technical challenges that need to be addressed in order to enable an early-market entry of PEMFCs include: the development of catalysts with increased activity and durability, with reduced platinum group metal (PGM) loading or no PGMs; development of membranes with increased conductivity in conditions of low relative humidity and elevated temperatures, with increased mechanical and chemical stability and reduced cost; membranes, capable of operating at temperatures up to 120 °C for automotive applications and above 120 °C for stationary applications, are needed for better thermal management; optimization of gas diffusion layers (GDLs) with increased durability and decreased cost are sought to optimize fuel cell performance at elevated power densities. R&D is required to develop manufacturing processes for bipolar plates with reduced weight, volume, and cost, and with higher corrosion resistances. To enable early-market entry of PEMFCs, R&D is also required to reduce the cost and to improve the durability of the system balance of plant components.

To address the needs in today’s fuel cell industry, this Special Issue on PEMFCs focuses on research related to:

  • Material durability and reliability
  • Innovative and alternative materials for PEMFCs
  • Characterization methods
  • Air, heat, and water management
  • Numerical modelling and simulations
  • Fuel cell system integration
  • Industrial production technologies
  • Operating strategies
  • Methods and strategies for material quality control

Prof. Dr. Vladimir Gurau
Guest Editor

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Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • PEMFCs
  • numerical simulations
  • modeling
  • fuel cell characterization
  • materials and components for fuel cells
  • thermal and water management
  • degradation
  • failure mechanisms
  • production technology
  • system integration

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 8969 KiB  
Article
Water Transport and Removal in PEMFC Gas Flow Channel with Various Water Droplet Locations and Channel Surface Wettability
by Yanzhou Qin, Xuefeng Wang, Rouxian Chen and Xiang Shangguan
Energies 2018, 11(4), 880; https://doi.org/10.3390/en11040880 - 10 Apr 2018
Cited by 23 | Viewed by 4566
Abstract
Water transport and removal in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is critically important to fuel cell performance, stability, and durability. Water emerging locations on the membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) surface and the channel surface wettability significantly influence the water transport and removal [...] Read more.
Water transport and removal in the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is critically important to fuel cell performance, stability, and durability. Water emerging locations on the membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) surface and the channel surface wettability significantly influence the water transport and removal in PEMFC. In most simulations of water transport and removal in the PEMFC flow channel, liquid water is usually introduced at the center of the MEA surface, which is fortuitous, since water droplet can emerge randomly on the MEA surface in PEMFC. In addition, the commonly used no-slip wall boundary condition greatly confines the water sliding features on hydrophobic MEA/channel surfaces, degrading the simulation accuracy. In this study, water droplet is introduced with various locations along the channel width direction on the MEA surface, and water transport and removal is investigated numerically using an improved model incorporating the sliding flow property by using the shear wall boundary condition. It is found that the water droplet can be driven to the channel sidewall by aerodynamics when the initial water location deviates from the MEA center to a certain amount, forming the water corner flow in the flow channel. The channel surface wettability on the water transport is also studied and is shown to have a significant impact on the water corner flow in the flow channel. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells 2017)
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14 pages, 4668 KiB  
Article
Experimental Study on Improvement of Performance by Wave Form Cathode Channels in a PEM Fuel Cell
by Sun-Joon Byun, Zhen Huan Wang, Jun Son, Dong-Kurl Kwak and Young-Chul Kwon
Energies 2018, 11(2), 319; https://doi.org/10.3390/en11020319 - 2 Feb 2018
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 4061
Abstract
We propose a wave-like design on the surface of cathode channels (wave form cathode channels) to improve oxidant delivery to gas diffusion layers (GDLs). We performed experiments using proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) combined with wave form surface design on cathodes. We varied [...] Read more.
We propose a wave-like design on the surface of cathode channels (wave form cathode channels) to improve oxidant delivery to gas diffusion layers (GDLs). We performed experiments using proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) combined with wave form surface design on cathodes. We varied the factors of the distance between wave-bumps (the adhesive distance, AD), and the size of the wave-bumps (the expansion ratio, ER). The ADs are three, four, and five times the size of the half-circle bump’s radius, and the ERs are two-thirds, one-half, and one-third of the channel’s height. We evaluated the performances of the fuel cells, and compared the current-voltage (I-V) relations. For comparison, we prepared PEMFCs with conventional flat-surfaced oxygen channels. Our aim in this work is to identify fuel cell operation by modifying the surface design of channels, and ultimately to find the optimal design of cathode channels that will maximize fuel cell performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells 2017)
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6782 KiB  
Article
Performance Evaluation and Durability Enhancement of FEP-Based Gas Diffusion Media for PEM Fuel Cells
by Saverio Latorrata, Paola Gallo Stampino, Cinzia Cristiani and Giovanni Dotelli
Energies 2017, 10(12), 2063; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10122063 - 5 Dec 2017
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 5270
Abstract
Nowadays, micro-porous layers (MPLs) for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are commonly deposited onto gas diffusion layer (GDL) substrates starting from hydrophobic carbon-based dispersions. In this work, different quantities of fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), a fluorinated copolymer proven to be superior to [...] Read more.
Nowadays, micro-porous layers (MPLs) for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are commonly deposited onto gas diffusion layer (GDL) substrates starting from hydrophobic carbon-based dispersions. In this work, different quantities of fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP), a fluorinated copolymer proven to be superior to polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) for a proper water management, were used to make both GDL and MPL hydrophobic. After the identification of the optimal amount of FEP, carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) was also added to gas diffusion media (GDM) to reduce overall ohmic resistance of the whole device and adhesion of MPLs to GDLs. Ex-situ chemical and mechanical accelerated stress tests (ASTs) were carried out to accelerate degradation of materials aiming to assess their durability. The highest quantity of FEP in GDMs led to the best electrochemical and diffusive properties. The presence of CMC allowed reducing overall ohmic resistance due to a better electrolyte hydration. A satisfactory durability was proven since the fundamental properties related to gas diffusion medium, such as wettability, ohmic and mass transport resistances, revealed to be quasi-stable upon ASTs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells 2017)
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1992 KiB  
Article
Application of the Sensor Selection Approach in Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Prognostics and Health Management
by Lei Mao, Ben Davies and Lisa Jackson
Energies 2017, 10(10), 1511; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10101511 - 29 Sep 2017
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4170
Abstract
In this paper, the sensor selection approach is investigated with the aim of using fewer sensors to provide reliable fuel cell diagnostic and prognostic results. The sensitivity of sensors is firstly calculated with a developed fuel cell model. With sensor sensitivities to different [...] Read more.
In this paper, the sensor selection approach is investigated with the aim of using fewer sensors to provide reliable fuel cell diagnostic and prognostic results. The sensitivity of sensors is firstly calculated with a developed fuel cell model. With sensor sensitivities to different fuel cell failure modes, the available sensors can be ranked. A sensor selection algorithm is used in the analysis, which considers both sensor sensitivity to fuel cell performance and resistance to noise. The performance of the selected sensors in polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell prognostics is also evaluated with an adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), and results show that the fuel cell voltage can be predicted with good quality using the selected sensors. Furthermore, a fuel cell test is performed to investigate the effectiveness of selected sensors in fuel cell fault diagnosis. From the results, different fuel cell states can be distinguished with good quality using the selected sensors. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells 2017)
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2444 KiB  
Communication
The Performance of a Direct Borohydride/Peroxide Fuel Cell Using Graphite Felts as Electrodes
by Heng-Yi Lee, Yi-Hsuan Hsu, Po-Hong Tsai, Jiunn-Yih Lee and Yong-Song Chen
Energies 2017, 10(8), 1124; https://doi.org/10.3390/en10081124 - 1 Aug 2017
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4014
Abstract
A direct borohydride/peroxide fuel cell (DBPFC) generates electrical power by recirculating liquid anolyte and catholyte between the stack and reservoirs, which is similar to the operation of flow batteries. To enhance the accessibility of the catalyst layer to the liquid anolyte/catholyte, graphite felts [...] Read more.
A direct borohydride/peroxide fuel cell (DBPFC) generates electrical power by recirculating liquid anolyte and catholyte between the stack and reservoirs, which is similar to the operation of flow batteries. To enhance the accessibility of the catalyst layer to the liquid anolyte/catholyte, graphite felts are employed as the porous diffusion layer of a single-cell DBPFC instead of carbon paper/cloth. The effects of the type of anode alkaline solution and operating conditions, including flow rate and temperature of the anolyte/catholyte, on DBPFC performance are investigated and discussed. The durability of the DBPFC is also evaluated by galvanostatic discharge at 0.1 A∙cm−2 for over 50 h. The results of this preliminary study show that a DBPFC with porous graphite electrodes can provide a maximum power density of 0.24 W∙cm−2 at 0.8 V. The performance of the DBPFC drops slightly after 50 h of operation; however, the discharge capacity shows no significant decrease. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells 2017)
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