Thin film surface modifications of thin/tunable liquid/gas diffusion layers for high-efficiency proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells

Kang, Zhenye; Mo, Jingke; Yang, Gaoqiang; Li, Yifan; Talley, Derrick A.; Retterer, Scott T.; Cullen, David A.; Toops, Todd J.; Brady, Michael P.; Bender, Guido; Pivovar, Bryan S.; Green, Johney B.; Zhang, Feng-Yuan

doi:10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.09.004

Title: Thin film surface modifications of thin/tunable liquid/gas diffusion layers for high-efficiency proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells

Journal Article · 14 September 2017 · Applied Energy

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2017.09.004 · OSTI ID:1393374

Kang, Zhenye ^[1]; Mo, Jingke ^[1]; Yang, Gaoqiang ^[1]; Li, Yifan ^[1]; Talley, Derrick A. ^[1]; Retterer, Scott T. ^[2]; Cullen, David A. ^[2]; Toops, Todd J. ^[2]; Brady, Michael P. ^[2]; Bender, Guido ^[3]; Pivovar, Bryan S. ^[3];

^[3];

^[1]

Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States). Nanodynamics and High-Efficiency Lab for Propulsion and Power (NanoHELP), Department of Mechanical, Aerospace & Biomedical Engineering, UT Space Institute
Oak Ridge National Lab. (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

A proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells (PEMEC) is one of the most promising devices for high-efficiency and low-cost energy storage and ultrahigh purity hydrogen production. As one of the critical components in PEMECs, the titanium thin/tunable LGDL (TT-LGDL) with its advantages of small thickness, planar surface, straight-through pores, and well-controlled pore morphologies, achieved superior multifunctional performance for hydrogen and oxygen production from water splitting even at low temperature. Different thin film surface treatments on the novel TT-LGDLs for enhancing the interfacial contacts and PEMEC performance were investigated both in-situ and ex-situ for the first time. Surface modified TT-LGDLs with about 180 nm thick Au thin film yielded performance improvement (voltage reduction), from 1.6849 V with untreated TT-LGDLs to only 1.6328 V with treated TT-LGDLs at 2.0 A/cm2 and 80 oC. Furthermore, the hydrogen/oxygen production rate was increased by about 28.2% at 1.60 V and 80 oC. The durability test demonstrated that the surface treated TT-LGDL has good stability as well. The gold electroplating surface treatment is a promising method for the PEMEC performance enhancement and titanium material protection even in harsh environment.Key Words: liquid/gas diffusion layers, surface treatment, proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells, electroplating, water splitting, hydrogen/oxygen production

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Research Organization:: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC36-08GO28308; FE0011585; AC05-00OR22725

OSTI ID:: 1393374

Alternate ID(s):: OSTI ID: 1435298; OSTI ID: 1549960; OSTI ID: 1784216

Report Number(s):: NREL/JA-5900-70128

Journal Information:: Applied Energy, Vol. 206, Issue C; ISSN 0306-2619

Publisher:: ElsevierCopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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Cited by: 52 works

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08 HYDROGEN
36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
37 INORGANIC, ORGANIC, PHYSICAL, AND ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY
liquid/gas diffusion layers
surface treatment
proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells
electroplating
water splitting
hydrogen/oxygen production

Title: Thin film surface modifications of thin/tunable liquid/gas diffusion layers for high-efficiency proton exchange membrane electrolyzer cells

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