A Method for Spatial Quantification of Water in Microporous Layers of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells by X-ray Tomographic Microscopy

被引：22

作者：

Chen, Yen-Chun ^{[1
]}

Berger, Anne ^{[2
,3
]}

De Angelis, Salvatore ^{[1
]}

Schuler, Tobias ^{[1
]}

Bozzetti, Michele ^{[4
]}

Eller, Jens ^{[1
]}

Tileli, Vasiliki ^{[4
]}

Schmidt, Thomas J. ^{[1
,5
]}

Buchi, Felix N. ^{[1
]}

机构：

[1] Paul Scherrer Inst, Electrochem Lab, CH-5232 Villigen, Switzerland

[2] Tech Univ Munich, Dept Chem, Chair Tech Electrochem, D-85748 Garching, Germany

[3] Tech Univ Munich, Catalysis Res Ctr, D-85748 Garching, Germany

[4] Ecole Polytech Fed Lausanne EPFL, Inst Mat, CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland

[5] Swiss Fed Inst Technol, Lab Phys Chem, CH-8093 Zurich, Switzerland

来源：

ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES | 2021年 / 13卷 / 14期

基金：

瑞士国家科学基金会;

关键词：

polymer electrolyte fuel cells; microporous layer; X-ray tomographic microscopy; local porosity determination; liquid water distribution; water management; subvoxel imaging; GAS-DIFFUSION LAYER; POROUS LAYER; HIGH-TEMPERATURE; TRANSPORT; PERFORMANCE; MANAGEMENT; PEMFC; ATTENUATION; TABULATION; INTERFACE;

D O I：

10.1021/acsami.0c22358

中图分类号：

TB3 [工程材料学];

学科分类号：

0805 ; 080502 ;

摘要：

A microporous layer (MPL) is typically added to the gas diffusion layer of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) to promote cell performance and water management. The transport mechanism of the water through the MPL is, however, not well understood due to its small pores (20-500 nm). Here, we demonstrate that polychromatic X-ray tomographic microscopy (XTM) can be used to determine the porosity and the spatial distribution of water in nanoporous materials and can quantitatively map the liquid water saturation of MPLs. The presented technique requires no a priori knowledge of the composition of the MPL and has a field of view on the millimeter scale, which is orders of magnitude larger than conventional electron microscopy techniques for nanoscale materials. The available field of view is compatible with existing operando cells for X-ray tomography, paving the way for the analysis of water transport in MPLs during operation.

引用

页码：16227 / 16237

页数：11

共 49 条

[1] Investigation of effects of high temperature and pressure on a polymer electrolyte fuel cell with polarization analysis and X-ray imaging of liquid water [J].