Elucidating Performance Limitations in Alkaline-Exchange- Membrane Fuel Cells
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States). Energy Conversion Group, Energy Technology Area
- Tufts Univ., Medford, MA (United States). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
Water management is a serious concern for alkaline-exchange-membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) because water is a reactant in the alkaline oxygen-reduction reaction and hydroxide conduction in alkaline-exchange membranes is highly hydration dependent. Here in this article, we develop and use a multiphysics, multiphase model to explore water management in AEMFCs. We demonstrate that the low performance is mostly caused by extremely non-uniform distribution of water in the ionomer phase. A sensitivity analysis of design parameters including humidification strategies, membrane properties, and water transport resistance was undertaken to explore possible optimization strategies. Furthermore, the strategy and issues of reducing bicarbonate/carbonate buildup in the membrane-electrode assembly with CO2 from air is demonstrated based on the model prediction. Overall, mathematical modeling is used to explore trends and strategies to overcome performance bottlenecks and help enable AEMFC commercialization.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1420105
- Journal Information:
- Journal of the Electrochemical Society, Vol. 164, Issue 11; ISSN 0013-4651
- Publisher:
- The Electrochemical SocietyCopyright Statement
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Web of Science
Along-the-Channel Impacts of Water Management and Carbon-Dioxide Contamination in Hydroxide-Exchange-Membrane Fuel Cells: A Modeling Study
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journal | January 2019 |
Predicting the Effects of Carbon Dioxide on the Conductivity of Electrospun Anion Exchange Membranes
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journal | January 2019 |
Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Performance in the Presence of Carbon Dioxide: An Investigation into the Self-Purging Mechanism
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journal | January 2019 |
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