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Membranes
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Membranes in Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Applications
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Membranes in Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Applications

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 June 2023) | Viewed by 11274

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Qiuwan Shen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Marine Engineering College, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Interests: hydrogen energy; new energy technology; PEMFC
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jinliang Yuan

E-Mail Website1 Website2
Guest Editor
Faculty of Maritime and Transportation, Ningbo University, Ningbo 315832, China
Interests: fuel cells; electrolysis cells; hydrogen energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Bengt Sunden

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Energy Sciences, Lund University, 221 00 Lund, Sweden
Interests: PEMFC; SOFC; batteries; hydrogen production and storage; renewable energy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrogen is one of the most promising green energy sources for the future due to its abundant reserves, high energy density, cleanliness, and absence of pollution. Fuel cells are key carriers necessary to realize the conversion of hydrogen into electrical energy. According to different electrolytes, fuel cells can be divided into proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), alkaline fuel cells (AFCs), and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), etc. Compared with other fuel cells, PEMFCs have a high energy density, low operating temperature, and fast dynamic response, as well as being non-corrosive and unaffected by carbon dioxide, making them suitable for portable power supplies, motor vehicle power supplies, and medium- and small-power generation systems.

The application of PEMFCs also needs to be supported by cheap and efficient hydrogen production technology. Hydrogen production via electrolyzers is a new development trend in the hydrogen energy industry. Currently, alkaline electrolyzers are the most developed technology, while PEM electrolyzers have a wide range of operating current densities to better accommodate for the volatility of renewable energy sources.

This Special Issue aims to discuss the latest innovations, technologies and developments in fuel cell and hydrogen production by electrolyzers. From this perspective, we are pleased to invite you to submit your original research or review articles to this Special Issue of Membranes, entitled “Membranes in Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Applications.” 

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Qiuwan Shen
Prof. Dr. Jinliang Yuan
Prof. Dr. Bengt Sunden
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • membranes
  • fuel cells
  • electrolyzers
  • membranes for energy conversion and storage
  • membrane preparation/characterization
  • numerical simulations

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

16 pages, 4636 KiB  
Article
Pore-Scale Modeling of Liquid Water Transport in Compressed Gas Diffusion Layer of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Considering Fiber Anisotropy
by Hao Wang, Guogang Yang, Shian Li, Qiuwan Shen, Yue Li and Renjie Wang
Membranes 2023, 13(6), 559; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13060559 - 29 May 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1107
Abstract
Water management of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) is crucial to the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Appropriate water management ensures efficient transport of reactive gases and maintains wetting of the proton exchange membrane to enhance proton conduction. In this [...] Read more.
Water management of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) is crucial to the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). Appropriate water management ensures efficient transport of reactive gases and maintains wetting of the proton exchange membrane to enhance proton conduction. In this paper, a two-dimensional pseudo-potential multiphase lattice Boltzmann model is developed to study liquid water transport within the GDL. Liquid water transport from the GDL to the gas channel is the focus, and the effect of fiber anisotropy and compression on water management is evaluated. The results show that the fiber distribution approximately perpendicular to the rib reduces liquid water saturation within the GDL. Compression significantly changes the microstructure of the GDL under the ribs, which facilitates the formation of liquid water transport pathways under the gas channel, and the increase in the compression ratio leads to a decrease in liquid water saturation. The performed microstructure analysis and the pore-scale two-phase behavior simulation study comprise a promising technique for optimizing liquid water transport within the GDL. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes in Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Applications)
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12 pages, 7977 KiB  
Article
Novel Nafion/Graphitic Carbon Nitride Nanosheets Composite Membrane for Steam Electrolysis at 110 °C
by Taipu Chen, Bo Lv, Shucheng Sun, Jinkai Hao and Zhigang Shao
Membranes 2023, 13(3), 308; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13030308 - 07 Mar 2023
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 3183
Abstract
Hydrogen is expected to have an important role in future energy systems; however, further research is required to ensure the commercial viability of hydrogen generation. Proton exchange membrane steam electrolysis above 100 °C has attracted significant research interest owing to its high electrolytic [...] Read more.
Hydrogen is expected to have an important role in future energy systems; however, further research is required to ensure the commercial viability of hydrogen generation. Proton exchange membrane steam electrolysis above 100 °C has attracted significant research interest owing to its high electrolytic efficiency and the potential to reduce the use of electrical energy through waste heat utilization. This study developed a novel composite membrane fabricated from graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) and Nafion and applied it to steam electrolysis with excellent results. g-C3N4 is uniformly dispersed among the non−homogeneous functionalized particles of the polymer, and it improves the thermostability of the membranes. The amino and imino active sites on the nanosheet surface enhance the proton conductivity. In ultrapure water at 90 °C, the proton conductivity of the Nafion/0.4 wt.% g-C3N4 membrane is 287.71 mS cm−1. Above 100 °C, the modified membranes still exhibit high conductivity, and no sudden decreases in conductivity were observed. The Nafion/g-C3N4 membranes exhibit excellent performance when utilized as a steam electrolyzer. Compared with that of previous studies, this approach achieves better electrolytic behavior with a relatively low catalyst loading. Steam electrolysis using a Nafion/0.4 wt.% g-C3N4 membranes achieves a current density of 2260 mA cm−2 at 2 V, which is approximately 69% higher than the current density achieved using pure Nafion membranes under the same conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes in Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Applications)
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17 pages, 6395 KiB  
Article
Effects of Compression and Porosity Gradients on Two-Phase Behavior in Gas Diffusion Layer of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells
by Hao Wang, Guogang Yang, Qiuwan Shen, Shian Li, Fengmin Su, Ziheng Jiang, Jiadong Liao, Guoling Zhang and Juncai Sun
Membranes 2023, 13(3), 303; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13030303 - 04 Mar 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1511
Abstract
Water management within the gas diffusion layer (GDL) plays an important role in the performance of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and its reliability. The compression of the gas diffusion layer during fabrication and assembly has a significant impact on the [...] Read more.
Water management within the gas diffusion layer (GDL) plays an important role in the performance of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and its reliability. The compression of the gas diffusion layer during fabrication and assembly has a significant impact on the mass transport, and the porosity gradient design of the gas diffusion layer is an essential way to improve water management. In this paper, the two-dimensional lattice Boltzmann method (LBM) is applied to investigate the two-phase behavior in gas diffusion layers with different porosity gradients under compression. Compression results in an increase in flow resistance below the ribs, prompting the appearance of the flow path of liquid water below the channel, and liquid water breaks through to the channel more quickly. GDLs with linear, multilayer, and inverted V-shaped porosity distributions with an overall porosity of 0.78 are generated to evaluate the effect of porosity gradients on the liquid water transport. The liquid water saturation values within the linear and multilayer GDLs are significantly reduced compared to that of the GDL with uniform porosity, but the liquid water within the inverted V-shaped GDL accumulates in the middle region and is more likely to cause flooding. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes in Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Applications)
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13 pages, 9034 KiB  
Article
Numerical Study on Thermal Stress of High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells during Start-Up Process
by Shian Li, Chengdong Peng, Qiuwan Shen, Yuanzhe Cheng, Chongyang Wang and Guogang Yang
Membranes 2023, 13(2), 215; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13020215 - 09 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1247
Abstract
High-temperature proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) with phosphoric-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes have a higher operating temperature compared to the PEMFCs operating below 373.15 K. The fuel cell is first heated from room temperature to the minimum operating temperature to avoid the generation of [...] Read more.
High-temperature proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) with phosphoric-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes have a higher operating temperature compared to the PEMFCs operating below 373.15 K. The fuel cell is first heated from room temperature to the minimum operating temperature to avoid the generation of liquid water. The existence of liquid water can result in the loss of phosphoric acid and then affect the cell performance. In this study, the start-up process of HT-PEMFCs is numerically studied by establishing a three-dimensional non-isothermal mathematical model. Preheated gas is supplied into gas flow channels to heat the fuel cell, and then voltage load is applied to accelerate the start-up process. Effects of voltage (0.9 V, 0.7 V and 0.5 V) and flow arrangement (co-flow and counter flow) on temperature, current density, proton conductivity and stress distributions of fuel cells are examined. It is found that the maximum stress is increased when a lower voltage is adopted, and the counter-flow arrangement provides a more uniform stress distribution than that of co-flow arrangement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes in Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Applications)
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19 pages, 7949 KiB  
Article
A Bibliometric Study on Trends in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Research during 1990–2022
by Zhijun Deng, Baozhu Li, Jinqiu Gong and Chen Zhao
Membranes 2022, 12(12), 1217; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12121217 - 01 Dec 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1623
Abstract
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with high density and safe reliability has been extensively studied in the world. With the circumstance of extensive PEMFC research, in this study we carried out a bibliometric analysis to understand the technological development. The information of [...] Read more.
Proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) with high density and safe reliability has been extensively studied in the world. With the circumstance of extensive PEMFC research, in this study we carried out a bibliometric analysis to understand the technological development. The information of 17,769 related publications from 1990 to 2022 was retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection for bibliometric analysis based on the VOSviewer tool. The results show that the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy dominates among all of the source journals. The closest collaboration is between China and the USA, and publications from both of those account for 53.9% of the total. In terms of institutions, the Chinese Academy of Sciences has prolific publications, in which representative groups, such as Shao Zhigang’s, have achieved many outputs in this field. The theme of PEMFC research can be divided into three aspects: “materials”, “design” and “mechanisms”. This study demonstrated overall mapping knowledge domain and systematic analysis, and contributed to making a guide for researchers on the progress and trends of PEMFC. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes in Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Applications)
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17 pages, 2369 KiB  
Article
Experimental Investigation on the Anode Flow Field Design for an Air-Cooled Open-Cathode Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell
by Zhijun Deng, Baozhu Li, Shuang Xing, Chen Zhao and Haijiang Wang
Membranes 2022, 12(11), 1069; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12111069 - 29 Oct 2022
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1719
Abstract
A flow channel structure design plays a significant role in an open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The cell performance is sensitive to the structural parameters of the flow field, which mainly affects the heat and mass transfer between membrane electrode assembly and [...] Read more.
A flow channel structure design plays a significant role in an open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The cell performance is sensitive to the structural parameters of the flow field, which mainly affects the heat and mass transfer between membrane electrode assembly and channel. This paper presents theoretical and experimental studies to investigate the impacts of anode flow field parameters (numbers of the serpentine channels, depths, and widths of the anode channel) on cell performance and temperature characteristics. The result indicates that the number of anode serpentine channels adjusts the pressure and flow rate of hydrogen in the anode flow channel effectively. The depth and width of the channel change the pressure, flow rate, and mass transfer capacity of hydrogen, especially under the high current density. There appears the best depth to achieve optimum cell performance. The velocity and concentration of hydrogen have important influences on the mass transfer which agrees with the anode channel structure design and performance changes based on the field synergy principle. This research has great significance for further understanding the relationship between anode flow field design and fuel cell performance in the open-cathode proton exchange membrane fuel cell stack. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Membranes in Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Applications)
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