Investigation of thin/well-tunable liquid/gas diffusion layers exhibiting superior multifunctional performance in low-temperature electrolytic water splitting
Abstract
Liquid/gas diffusion layers (LGDLs), which are located between the catalyst layer (CL) and bipolar plate (BP), play an important role in enhancing the performance of water splitting in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs). They are expected to transport electrons, heat, and reactants/products simultaneously with minimum voltage, current, thermal, interfacial, and fluidic losses. Here in this study, the thin titanium-based LGDLs with straight-through pores and well-defined pore morphologies are comprehensively investigated for the first time. The novel LGDL with a 400 μm pore size and 0.7 porosity achieved a best-ever performance of 1.66 V at 2 A cm-2 and 80 °C, as compared to the published literature. The thin/well-tunable titanium based LGDLs remarkably reduce ohmic and activation losses, and it was found that porosity has a more significant impact on performance than pore size. In addition, an appropriate equivalent electrical circuit model has been established to quantify the effects of pore morphologies. The rapid electrochemical reaction phenomena at the center of the PEMEC are observed by coupling with high-speed and micro-scale visualization systems. Lastly, the observed reactions contribute reasonable and pioneering data that elucidate the effects of porosity and pore size on the PEMEC performance. This study can be amore »
- Authors:
-
- Univ. of Tennessee Space Inst. (UTSI), Knoxville, TN (United States). Dept. of Mechanical, Aerospace & Biomedical Engineering
- Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
- Publication Date:
- Research Org.:
- Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Center for Nanophase Materials Sciences (CNMS); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Fuels, Engines and Emissions Research Center (FEERC); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). National Transportation Research Center (NTRC); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States). Manufacturing Demonstration Facility (MDF)
- Sponsoring Org.:
- USDOE
- OSTI Identifier:
- 1354648
- Grant/Contract Number:
- AC05-00OR22725
- Resource Type:
- Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Name:
- Energy & Environmental Science
- Additional Journal Information:
- Journal Volume: 10; Journal Issue: 1; Journal ID: ISSN 1754-5692
- Publisher:
- Royal Society of Chemistry
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
- Subject:
- 37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
Citation Formats
Kang, Zhenye, Mo, Jingke, Yang, Gaoqiang, Retterer, Scott T., Cullen, David A., Toops, Todd J., Green, Jr, Johney B., Mench, Matthew M., and Zhang, Feng-Yuan. Investigation of thin/well-tunable liquid/gas diffusion layers exhibiting superior multifunctional performance in low-temperature electrolytic water splitting. United States: N. p., 2016.
Web. doi:10.1039/C6EE02368A.
Kang, Zhenye, Mo, Jingke, Yang, Gaoqiang, Retterer, Scott T., Cullen, David A., Toops, Todd J., Green, Jr, Johney B., Mench, Matthew M., & Zhang, Feng-Yuan. Investigation of thin/well-tunable liquid/gas diffusion layers exhibiting superior multifunctional performance in low-temperature electrolytic water splitting. United States. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6EE02368A
Kang, Zhenye, Mo, Jingke, Yang, Gaoqiang, Retterer, Scott T., Cullen, David A., Toops, Todd J., Green, Jr, Johney B., Mench, Matthew M., and Zhang, Feng-Yuan. Tue .
"Investigation of thin/well-tunable liquid/gas diffusion layers exhibiting superior multifunctional performance in low-temperature electrolytic water splitting". United States. https://doi.org/10.1039/C6EE02368A. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1354648.
@article{osti_1354648,
title = {Investigation of thin/well-tunable liquid/gas diffusion layers exhibiting superior multifunctional performance in low-temperature electrolytic water splitting},
author = {Kang, Zhenye and Mo, Jingke and Yang, Gaoqiang and Retterer, Scott T. and Cullen, David A. and Toops, Todd J. and Green, Jr, Johney B. and Mench, Matthew M. and Zhang, Feng-Yuan},
abstractNote = {Liquid/gas diffusion layers (LGDLs), which are located between the catalyst layer (CL) and bipolar plate (BP), play an important role in enhancing the performance of water splitting in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMECs). They are expected to transport electrons, heat, and reactants/products simultaneously with minimum voltage, current, thermal, interfacial, and fluidic losses. Here in this study, the thin titanium-based LGDLs with straight-through pores and well-defined pore morphologies are comprehensively investigated for the first time. The novel LGDL with a 400 μm pore size and 0.7 porosity achieved a best-ever performance of 1.66 V at 2 A cm-2 and 80 °C, as compared to the published literature. The thin/well-tunable titanium based LGDLs remarkably reduce ohmic and activation losses, and it was found that porosity has a more significant impact on performance than pore size. In addition, an appropriate equivalent electrical circuit model has been established to quantify the effects of pore morphologies. The rapid electrochemical reaction phenomena at the center of the PEMEC are observed by coupling with high-speed and micro-scale visualization systems. Lastly, the observed reactions contribute reasonable and pioneering data that elucidate the effects of porosity and pore size on the PEMEC performance. This study can be a new guide for future research and development towards high-efficiency and low-cost hydrogen energy.},
doi = {10.1039/C6EE02368A},
journal = {Energy & Environmental Science},
number = 1,
volume = 10,
place = {United States},
year = {Tue Oct 11 00:00:00 EDT 2016},
month = {Tue Oct 11 00:00:00 EDT 2016}
}
Free Publicly Available Full Text
Publisher's Version of Record
Other availability
Search WorldCat to find libraries that may hold this journal
Cited by: 129 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science
Web of Science
Save to My Library
You must Sign In or Create an Account in order to save documents to your library.
Works referenced in this record:
EIS Studies of Porous Oxygen Electrodes with Discrete Particles I. Impedance of Oxide Catalyst Supports
journal, January 2003
- Chen, Guoying; Waraksa, Chad C.; Cho, Hungoo
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 150, Issue 9, p. E423-E428
Nanoscale design to enable the revolution in renewable energy
journal, January 2009
- Baxter, Jason; Bian, Zhixi; Chen, Gang
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 2, Issue 6
Multimetallic Electrocatalysts of Pt, Ru, and Ir Supported on Anatase and Rutile TiO[sub 2] for Oxygen Evolution in an Acid Environment
journal, January 2011
- Fuentes, Roderick E.; Farell, Jake; Weidner, John W.
- Electrochemical and Solid-State Letters, Vol. 14, Issue 3
Solar-powered regenerative PEM electrolyzer/fuel cell system
journal, November 2005
- Shapiro, Daniel; Duffy, John; Kimble, Michael
- Solar Energy, Vol. 79, Issue 5
Mask-Patterned Wet Etching of Thin Titanium Liquid/Gas Diffusion Layers for a PEMEC
journal, August 2015
- Mo, J.; Steen, S. M.; Retterer, S.
- ECS Transactions, Vol. 66, Issue 24
Design and cost considerations for practical solar-hydrogen generators
journal, January 2014
- Rodriguez, Claudia A.; Modestino, Miguel A.; Psaltis, Demetri
- Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 7, Issue 12
Discovery of true electrochemical reactions for ultrahigh catalyst mass activity in water splitting
journal, November 2016
- Mo, Jingke; Kang, Zhenye; Retterer, Scott T.
- Science Advances, Vol. 2, Issue 11
Investigation of Charge-Transfer and Mass-Transport Resistances in PEMFCs with Microporous Layer Using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy
journal, January 2009
- Malevich, Dzmitry; Halliop, Ela; Peppley, Brant A.
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 156, Issue 2
The role of fuel cells in energy storage
journal, March 2000
- Smith, W.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 86, Issue 1-2
The electrocatalytic properties of an IrO2/SnO2 catalyst using SnO2 as a support and an assisting reagent for the oxygen evolution reaction
journal, January 2012
- Xu, Junyuan; Liu, Gaoyang; Li, Jianling
- Electrochimica Acta, Vol. 59
Activity and stability of cobalt phosphides for hydrogen evolution upon water splitting
journal, November 2016
- Ha, Don-Hyung; Han, Binghong; Risch, Marcel
- Nano Energy, Vol. 29
GenHyPEM: A research program on PEM water electrolysis supported by the European Commission
journal, June 2009
- Millet, Pierre; Dragoe, Diana; Grigoriev, Serguey
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 34, Issue 11
Nanomaterials for renewable energy production and storage
journal, January 2012
- Chen, Xiaobo; Li, Can; Grätzel, Michaël
- Chemical Society Reviews, Vol. 41, Issue 23
Review of the membrane and bipolar plates materials for conventional and unitized regenerative fuel cells
journal, August 2009
- Dihrab, Salwan S.; Sopian, K.; Alghoul, M. A.
- Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Vol. 13, Issue 6-7
Effect of titanium powder loading in gas diffusion layer of a polymer electrolyte unitized reversible fuel cell
journal, March 2012
- Hwang, Chul Min; Ishida, Masayoshi; Ito, Hiroshi
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 202
Initial Performance and Durability of Ultra-Low Loaded NSTF Electrodes for PEM Electrolyzers
journal, January 2012
- Debe, M. K.; Hendricks, S. M.; Vernstrom, G. D.
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 159, Issue 6
Hydrocarbon proton conducting polymers for fuel cell catalyst layers
journal, January 2011
- Peron, Jennifer; Shi, Zhiqing; Holdcroft, Steven
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 4, Issue 5
Preparation and Characterization of Nanomaterials for Sustainable Energy Production
journal, October 2010
- Liu, Chang-jun; Burghaus, Uwe; Besenbacher, Flemming
- ACS Nano, Vol. 4, Issue 10
Recent advances in micro-/nano-structured hollow spheres for energy applications: From simple to complex systems
journal, January 2012
- Lai, Xiaoyong; Halpert, Jonathan E.; Wang, Dan
- Energy Environ. Sci., Vol. 5, Issue 2
Effects of membrane electrode assembly properties on two-phase transport and performance in proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells
journal, January 2016
- Han, Bo; Mo, Jingke; Kang, Zhenye
- Electrochimica Acta, Vol. 188
Identifying charge and mass transfer resistances of an oxygen reducing biocathode
journal, January 2011
- Ter Heijne, Annemiek; Schaetzle, Olivier; Gimenez, Sixto
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 4, Issue 12
Remote power systems with advanced storage technologies for Alaskan villages
journal, October 2000
- Isherwood, William; Smith, J. Ray; Aceves, Salvador M.
- Energy, Vol. 25, Issue 10
Effect of Oxygen Depletion Along the Air Channel of a PEMFC on the Warburg Diffusion Impedance
journal, January 2010
- Mainka, J.; Maranzana, G.; Dillet, J.
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 157, Issue 11
Design and Testing of a Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell
journal, May 2009
- Fall, Jeremy; Humphreys, Drew; Guo, S. M.
- Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology, Vol. 6, Issue 3
Influence of properties of gas diffusion layers on the performance of polymer electrolyte-based unitized reversible fuel cells
journal, January 2011
- Hwang, Chul Min; Ishida, Masayoshi; Ito, Hiroshi
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 36, Issue 2
Multi-shelled hollow micro-/nanostructures
journal, January 2015
- Qi, Jian; Lai, Xiaoyong; Wang, Jiangyan
- Chemical Society Reviews, Vol. 44, Issue 19
PEM electrolysis for production of hydrogen from renewable energy sources
journal, May 2005
- Barbir, Frano
- Solar Energy, Vol. 78, Issue 5
Electrochemical performance modeling of a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cell for hydrogen energy
journal, June 2015
- Han, Bo; Steen, Stuart M.; Mo, Jingke
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 40, Issue 22
Behaviors of a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer under water starvation
journal, January 2015
- Sun, Shucheng; Xiao, Yu; Liang, Dong
- RSC Advances, Vol. 5, Issue 19
Time‐Averaged Current Distribution for a Rotating‐Disk Electrode under Periodic Current Reversal Conditions
journal, July 1992
- Jeong, K. ‐M.; Lee, C. ‐K.; Sohn, H. ‐J.
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 139, Issue 7
Electrochemical investigation of stainless steel corrosion in a proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cell
journal, September 2015
- Mo, Jingke; Steen, Stuart M.; Zhang, Feng-Yuan
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 40, Issue 36
Investigations on high performance proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer
journal, January 2009
- Ma, L.; Sui, S.; Zhai, Y.
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 34, Issue 2
Relative economic incentives for hydrogen from nuclear, renewable, and fossil energy sources
journal, May 2009
- Gorensek, Maximilian B.; Forsberg, Charles W.
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 34, Issue 9
Study on metallic bipolar plate for proton exchange membrane fuel cell
journal, October 2006
- Matsuura, Toyoaki; Kato, Megumi; Hori, Michio
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 161, Issue 1
Modeling, control and simulation of a PV/FC/UC based hybrid power generation system for stand-alone applications
journal, March 2009
- Uzunoglu, M.; Onar, O. C.; Alam, M. S.
- Renewable Energy, Vol. 34, Issue 3
Reviewing Metallic PEMFC Bipolar Plates
journal, April 2010
- Wang, H.; Turner, J. A.
- Fuel Cells, Vol. 10, Issue 4
A novel catalyst layer with hydrophilic–hydrophobic meshwork and pore structure for solid polymer electrolyte water electrolysis
journal, May 2011
- Xu, Junyuan; Miao, Ruiying; Zhao, Tingting
- Electrochemistry Communications, Vol. 13, Issue 5
CPE analysis by local electrochemical impedance spectroscopy
journal, January 2006
- Jorcin, Jean-Baptiste; Orazem, Mark E.; Pébère, Nadine
- Electrochimica Acta, Vol. 51, Issue 8-9, p. 1473-1479
Investigation of a copper etching technique to fabricate metallic gas diffusion media
journal, September 2006
- Zhang, Feng-Yuan; Prasad, Ajay K.; Advani, Suresh G.
- Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, Vol. 16, Issue 11
Analyses of interfacial resistances in a membrane-electrode assembly for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell using symmetrical impedance spectroscopy
journal, January 2010
- Seo, Seok-Jun; Woo, Jung-Je; Yun, Sung-Hyun
- Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics, Vol. 12, Issue 46
Two-dimensional carbon leading to new photoconversion processes
journal, January 2014
- Tang, Hongjie; Hessel, Colin M.; Wang, Jiangyan
- Chem. Soc. Rev., Vol. 43, Issue 13
Corrosion behaviour of construction materials for high temperature steam electrolysers
journal, January 2011
- Nikiforov, A. V.; Petrushina, I. M.; Christensen, E.
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 36, Issue 1
Performance of a metallic gas diffusion layer for PEM fuel cells
journal, January 2008
- Zhang, Feng-Yuan; Advani, Suresh G.; Prasad, Ajay K.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 176, Issue 1
Thin liquid/gas diffusion layers for high-efficiency hydrogen production from water splitting
journal, September 2016
- Mo, Jingke; Kang, Zhenye; Yang, Gaoqiang
- Applied Energy, Vol. 177
Proton exchange membrane electrolysis sustained by water vapor
journal, January 2011
- Spurgeon, Joshua M.; Lewis, Nathan S.
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 4, Issue 8
ac Impedance Study of a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Stack Under Various Loading Conditions
journal, March 2010
- Dale, N. V.; Mann, M. D.; Salehfar, H.
- Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology, Vol. 7, Issue 3
High-durability titanium bipolar plate modified by electrochemical deposition of platinum for unitized regenerative fuel cell (URFC)
journal, April 2010
- Jung, Ho-Young; Huang, Sheng-Yang; Popov, Branko N.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 195, Issue 7
Optimization of porous current collectors for PEM water electrolysers
journal, June 2009
- Grigoriev, S. A.; Millet, P.; Volobuev, S. A.
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 34, Issue 11
Experimental demonstrations of spontaneous, solar-driven photoelectrochemical water splitting
journal, January 2015
- Ager, Joel W.; Shaner, Matthew R.; Walczak, Karl A.
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 10
Metal foams as flow field and gas diffusion layer in direct methanol fuel cells
journal, February 2007
- Arisetty, Srikanth; Prasad, Ajay K.; Advani, Suresh G.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 165, Issue 1
Pure hydrogen production by PEM electrolysis for hydrogen energy
journal, February 2006
- Grigoriev, S.; Porembsky, V.; Fateev, V.
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 31, Issue 2
Performance of a PEM water electrolysis cell using IrxRuyTazO2IrxRuyTazO2 electrocatalysts for the oxygen evolution electrode
journal, September 2007
- Marshall, A.; Sunde, S.; Tsypkin, M.
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 32, Issue 13
Influence of pore structural properties of current collectors on the performance of proton exchange membrane electrolyzer
journal, June 2013
- Ito, Hiroshi; Maeda, Tetsuhiko; Nakano, Akihiro
- Electrochimica Acta, Vol. 100
Energy Storage in Electrochemical Cells with Molten Sb Electrodes
journal, January 2012
- Javadekar, Ashay; Jayakumar, Abhimanyu; Gorte, R. J.
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 159, Issue 4, p. A386-A389
Toward the rational design of non-precious transition metal oxides for oxygen electrocatalysis
journal, January 2015
- Hong, Wesley T.; Risch, Marcel; Stoerzinger, Kelsey A.
- Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 8, Issue 5
Metal bipolar plates for PEM fuel cell—A review
journal, January 2007
- Tawfik, H.; Hung, Y.; Mahajan, D.
- Journal of Power Sources, Vol. 163, Issue 2
A comprehensive review on PEM water electrolysis
journal, April 2013
- Carmo, Marcelo; Fritz, David L.; Mergel, Jürgen
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 38, Issue 12, p. 4901-4934
Experimental study on porous current collectors of PEM electrolyzers
journal, May 2012
- Ito, Hiroshi; Maeda, Tetsuhiko; Nakano, Akihiro
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 37, Issue 9
Membrane electrode assemblies with low noble metal loadings for hydrogen production from solid polymer electrolyte water electrolysis
journal, August 2013
- Su, Huaneng; Linkov, Vladimir; Bladergroen, Bernard Jan
- International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol. 38, Issue 23
Effects of pore size gradient in the substrate of a gas diffusion layer on the performance of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell
journal, July 2015
- Oh, Hwanyeong; Park, Jaeman; Min, Kyoungdoug
- Applied Energy, Vol. 149
Remote power systems with advanced storage technologies for Alaskan villages
report, December 1997
- Isherwood, W.; Smith, R.; Aceves, S.
Works referencing / citing this record:
One‐Step Fabrication of Ultralow Pt Loading High Efficiency Proton Exchange Membrane for Water Electrolysis by Conventional E‐Beam Metal Deposition
journal, April 2019
- Wang, Yanyan; Yu, Xue; Liu, Gen
- Advanced Sustainable Systems, Vol. 3, Issue 5
Hierarchically Structured Porous Transport Layers for Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolysis
journal, November 2019
- Schuler, Tobias; Ciccone, Joseph M.; Krentscher, Bernd
- Advanced Energy Materials, Vol. 10, Issue 2
Facile electrochemical preparation of nonprecious Co‐Cu alloy catalysts for hydrogen production in proton exchange membrane water electrolysis
journal, December 2019
- Kim, Hoyoung; Park, Hyanjoo; Oh, Seonhwa
- International Journal of Energy Research, Vol. 44, Issue 4
Communication—Contribution of Catalyst Layer Proton Transport Resistance to Voltage Loss in Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolyzers
journal, January 2018
- Babic, Ugljesa; Schmidt, Thomas J.; Gubler, Lorenz
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 165, Issue 15
Proton Transport in Catalyst Layers of a Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolyzer: Effect of the Anode Catalyst Loading
journal, January 2019
- Babic, Ugljesa; Nilsson, Elisabeth; Pătru, Alexandra
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, Issue 4
Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolysis: Correlating Porous Transport Layer Structural Properties and Performance: Part I. Tomographic Analysis of Morphology and Topology
journal, January 2019
- Schuler, Tobias; De Bruycker, Ruben; Schmidt, Thomas J.
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, Issue 4
A Miniature Fuel Cell with Monolithically Fabricated Si Electrodes: Application of Au-Pd-Pt Multilayer Catalyst
journal, January 2019
- Shirai, Ryo; Irita, Masaru; Kurose, Tomohiro
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, Issue 15
CO 2 -Assisted Regeneration of a Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolyzer Contaminated with Metal Ion Impurities
journal, January 2019
- Babic, Ugljesa; Zlobinski, Mateusz; Schmidt, Thomas Justus
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, Issue 10
Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolysis: Correlating Performance and Porous Transport Layer Structure: Part II. Electrochemical Performance Analysis
journal, January 2019
- Schuler, Tobias; Schmidt, Thomas J.; Büchi, Felix N.
- Journal of The Electrochemical Society, Vol. 166, Issue 10
Communication—Contribution of Catalyst Layer Proton Transport Resistance to Voltage Loss in Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolyzers
text, January 2018
- Babic, Ugljesa; Schmidt, Thomas J.; Gubler, Lorenz
- ETH Zurich
Proton Transport in Catalyst Layers of a Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolyzer: Effect of the Anode Catalyst Loading
text, January 2019
- Ugljesa, Babic,; Elisabeth, Nilsson,; Alexandra, Pătru,
- ETH Zurich
Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolysis: Correlating Porous Transport Layer Structural Properties and Performance: Part I. Tomographic Analysis of Morphology and Topology
text, January 2019
- Schuler, Tobias; De Bruycker, Ruben; Schmidt, Thomas J.
- ETH Zurich
Polymer Electrolyte Water Electrolysis: Correlating Performance and Porous Transport Layer Structure: Part II. Electrochemical Performance Analysis
text, January 2019
- Tobias, Schuler,; J., Schmidt, Thomas; N., Büchi, Felix
- ETH Zurich
CO2-assisted regeneration of a polymer electrolyte water electrolyzer contaminated with metal ion impurities
text, January 2019
- Ugljesa, Babic,; Mateusz, Zlobinski,; J., Schmidt, Thomas
- ETH Zurich