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Title: Thin liquid/gas diffusion layers for high-efficiency hydrogen production from water splitting

Abstract

Liquid/gas diffusion layers (LGDLs) play a crucial role in electrochemical energy technology and hydrogen production, and are expected to simultaneously transport electrons, heat, and reactants/products with minimum voltage, current, thermal, interfacial, and fluidic losses. In addition, carbon materials, which are typically used in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), are unsuitable for PEM electrolyzer cells (PEMECs). In this study, a novel titanium thin LGDL with well-tunable pore morphologies was developed by employing nano-manufacturing and was applied in a standard PEMEC. The LGDL tests show significant performance improvements. The operating voltages required at a current density of 2.0 A/cm2 were as low as 1.69 V, and its efficiency reached a report high of up to 88%. The new thin and flat LGDL with well-tunable straight pores has been demonstrated to remarkably reduce the ohmic, interfacial and transport losses. In addition, well-tunable features, including pore size, pore shape, pore distribution, and thus porosity and permeability, will be very valuable for developing PEMEC models and for validation of its simulations with optimal and repeatable performance. The LGDL thickness reduction from greater than 350 μm of conventional LGDLs to 25 μm will greatly decrease the weight and volume of PEMEC stacks, and represents amore » new direction for future developments of low-cost PEMECs with high performance.« less

Authors:
 [1];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [1]
  1. Univ. of Tennessee Space Inst. (UTSI), Tullahoma, TN (United States)
  2. Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Fuels, Engines and Emissions Research Center (FEERC); Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). National Transportation Research Center (NTRC)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES)
OSTI Identifier:
1261380
Alternate Identifier(s):
OSTI ID: 1328497
Grant/Contract Number:  
AC05-00OR22725; FE0011585
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Applied Energy
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 177; Journal ID: ISSN 0306-2619
Publisher:
Elsevier
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
08 HYDROGEN; proton exchange membrane fuel cells/ electrolyzer cells; liquid/gas diffusion layers; hydrogen production; water splitting; performance and efficiency

Citation Formats

Mo, Jingke, Retterer, Scott T., Cullen, David A., Toops, Todd J., Green, Jr, Johney Boyd, and Zhang, Feng-Yuan. Thin liquid/gas diffusion layers for high-efficiency hydrogen production from water splitting. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.05.154.
Mo, Jingke, Retterer, Scott T., Cullen, David A., Toops, Todd J., Green, Jr, Johney Boyd, & Zhang, Feng-Yuan. Thin liquid/gas diffusion layers for high-efficiency hydrogen production from water splitting. United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.05.154
Mo, Jingke, Retterer, Scott T., Cullen, David A., Toops, Todd J., Green, Jr, Johney Boyd, and Zhang, Feng-Yuan. 2016. "Thin liquid/gas diffusion layers for high-efficiency hydrogen production from water splitting". United States. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.05.154. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1261380.
@article{osti_1261380,
title = {Thin liquid/gas diffusion layers for high-efficiency hydrogen production from water splitting},
author = {Mo, Jingke and Retterer, Scott T. and Cullen, David A. and Toops, Todd J. and Green, Jr, Johney Boyd and Zhang, Feng-Yuan},
abstractNote = {Liquid/gas diffusion layers (LGDLs) play a crucial role in electrochemical energy technology and hydrogen production, and are expected to simultaneously transport electrons, heat, and reactants/products with minimum voltage, current, thermal, interfacial, and fluidic losses. In addition, carbon materials, which are typically used in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), are unsuitable for PEM electrolyzer cells (PEMECs). In this study, a novel titanium thin LGDL with well-tunable pore morphologies was developed by employing nano-manufacturing and was applied in a standard PEMEC. The LGDL tests show significant performance improvements. The operating voltages required at a current density of 2.0 A/cm2 were as low as 1.69 V, and its efficiency reached a report high of up to 88%. The new thin and flat LGDL with well-tunable straight pores has been demonstrated to remarkably reduce the ohmic, interfacial and transport losses. In addition, well-tunable features, including pore size, pore shape, pore distribution, and thus porosity and permeability, will be very valuable for developing PEMEC models and for validation of its simulations with optimal and repeatable performance. The LGDL thickness reduction from greater than 350 μm of conventional LGDLs to 25 μm will greatly decrease the weight and volume of PEMEC stacks, and represents a new direction for future developments of low-cost PEMECs with high performance.},
doi = {10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.05.154},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1261380}, journal = {Applied Energy},
issn = {0306-2619},
number = ,
volume = 177,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Jun 13 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Mon Jun 13 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}

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Cited by: 73 works
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Degradation in photoelectrochemical devices: review with an illustrative case study
journal, February 2017


Discovery of true electrochemical reactions for ultrahigh catalyst mass activity in water splitting
journal, November 2016


Critical Review—Identifying Critical Gaps for Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolysis Development
journal, January 2017