Lung-inspired, fractal flow-fields hold great potential in improving the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) by providing uniform gas distribution across the electrodes ...and ensuring minimum entropy production in the whole system. However, the inherent susceptibility of the fractal flow-fields to flooding renders their use inadequate at high humidity conditions. In-depth understanding of water management in lung-inspired flow-fields is indispensable for the implementation of alternative outlet channel geometries or engineered water removal strategies to alleviate flooding. Here, liquid water formation and transport across the lung-inspired and serpentine flow-field based PEMFCs are evaluated using neutron radiography. The results reveal a propensity to flooding in the interdigitated outlet channels of the fractal flow-field with N = 4 generations as a result of slow gas velocity and narrow channel dimensions, which leads to significant performance deterioration. Neutron images also elucidate the importance of ensuring a well-defined internal channel structure of the fractal flow-fields to prevent backflow of liquid water via wicking and capillary pressure build-up arising from the narrow inlet gas channels and hydrophobic gas diffusion layer.
•Neutron radiographs are presented for the lung-inspired and serpentine flow-fields.•A well-defined channel structure of the fractal flow-field is indispensable.•Water removal strategies required to alleviate flooding in the fractal flow-field.
The increasing use of intermittent renewable energy sources calls for novel approaches to large-scale energy conversion and storage. Hydrogen can be readily stored and produced from renewable sources ...using polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysers (PEMWEs). Mass transport of water and product gas in the liquid-gas diffusion layer (LGDL) is critical for PEMWE performance, particularly at high current densities. In this work, neutron radiography is deployed to measure the spatial distribution of water within three different LGDLs, while X-ray micro-computed tomography (XCT) is used to characterize the microstructure of the LGDL materials. The combination of these two techniques yields valuable insight into water transport within the LGDL. Significant local water heterogeneity is observed and a link between flow-field geometry/location and LGDL mass transport is identified. It is further shown that the pore volume in these LGDLs is significantly under-utilized, pointing the way towards design optimisation of LGDL materials and architectures.
•Neutron imaging combined with X-ray computed tomography.•Water distribution operando across active area using neutron radiography.•Decreased water thickness with increasing current density mapped.•Highly heterogeneous distribution of water across active area.
In-depth understanding of the dynamics of water formation, accumulation and removal is important for flow-field design optimization to ensure robust performance and durability of polymer electrolyte ...fuel cells (PEFCs). Here, in-operando neutron radiography is used to display and quantify liquid water distribution across the entire active area of single-, double- and quad-channel serpentine flow-fields. The results revealed that the water management and performance of PEFCs is strongly affected by the number of serpentine channels in the cathode flow-field. The single-channel serpentine-based PEFC exhibits both a better cell performance and uniformity in the local water distribution. The quad-channel based PEFC exhibits the largest voltage fluctuations caused by severe water flooding in the gas channels. However, the single-channel design leads to significantly larger pressure drop than the multiple-channel counterparts, which requires much higher parasitic power to pressurize and recirculate the reactants.
Three different regimes of operation can be defined based on the current density: gradually increasing hydration (<400 mA cm−2), flooding (400 mA cm−2 ≤ j ≤ 600 mA cm−2) and drying out (>600 mA cm−2). The reduced overall quantity of water in the channels with an increase in current density can be attributed to faster gas velocity and higher cell temperature.
•In-depth understanding of water dynamics through in-operando neutron radiography.•Single-, double- and quad-channel serpentine cathode flow-fields compared.•The single-channel exhibits better performance and water uniformity.•Three regimes identified: increasing hydration, flooding and drying out.
Metal foam flow-fields have shown great potential in improving the uniformity of reactant distribution in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) by eliminating the ‘land/channel’ geometry of ...conventional designs. However, a detailed understanding of the water management in operational metal foam flow-field based PEFCs is limited. This study aims to provide the first clear evidence of how and where water is generated, accumulated and removed in the metal foam flow-field based PEFCs using in-operando neutron radiography, and correlate the water ‘maps’ with electrochemical performance and durability. Results show that the metal foam flow-field based PEFC has greater tolerance to dehydration at 1000 mA cm−2, exhibiting a ~50% increase in voltage, ~127% increase in total water mass and ~38% decrease in high frequency resistance (HFR) than serpentine flow-field design. Additionally, the metal foam flow-field promotes more uniform water distribution where the standard deviation of the liquid water thickness distribution across the entire cell active area is almost half that of the serpentine. These superior characteristics of metal foam flow-field result in greater than twice the maximum power density over serpentine flow-field. Results suggest that optimizing fuel cell operating condition and foam microstructure would partly mitigate flooding in the metal foam flow-field based PEFC.
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•Neutron imaging applied to water management in metal foam flow-field based PEFC.•The metal foam flow-field enhances the uniformity of water distribution.•The metal foam flow-field improves the tolerance to dehydration.•The metal foam flow-field is susceptible to flooding at low current density.
In-depth understanding of the effect of compression on the water management in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) is indispensable for optimisation of performance and durability. Here, ...in-operando neutron radiography is utilised to evaluate the liquid water distribution and transport within a PEFC under different levels of compression. A quantitative analysis is presented with the influence of compression on the water droplet number and median droplet surface area across the entire electrode area. Water management and performance of PEFCs is strongly affected by the compression: the cell compressed at 1.0 MPa demonstrates ∼3.2% and ∼7.8% increase in the maximum power density over 1.8 MPa and 2.3 MPa, respectively. Correlation of performance to neutron radiography reveals that the performance deviation in the mass transport region is likely due to flooding issues. This could be ascribed to the loss of the porosity and increased tortuosity factor of the gas diffusion layer under the land at higher compression pressure. The size and number of droplets formed as a function of cell compression was examined: with higher compression pressure, water droplet number and median droplet surface area rapidly increase, showing the ineffective water removal, which leads to fuel starvation and the consequent performance decay.
•Mechanical compression affects water management in PEFCs.•Minimise compression for improved water management.•Increased compression leads to larger water droplet build-up.
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•Combined X-ray CT with Neutron imaging to characterize compression effect.•PEFC with medium compressed metal foam achieves the best performance.•Compression process decreases the ...pore size and narrows the PSD of metal foams.•Compression process facilitates effective water removal due to high pressure drop.•Medium compressed cell shows moderate water removal ability and parasitic power.
The mechanical compression of metal foam flow-field based polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) is critical in determining the interfacial contact resistance with gas diffusion layers (GDLs), reactant flow and water management. The distinct scale between the pore structure of metal foams and the entire flow-field warrant a multi-length scale characterization that combines ex-situ tests of compressed metal foam samples and in-operando analysis of operating PEFCs using X-ray computed tomography (CT) and neutron radiography. An optimal ‘medium’ compression was found to deliver a peak power density of 853 mW cm−2. The X-ray CT data indicates that the compression process significantly decreases the mean pore size and narrows the pore size distribution of metal foams. Simulation results suggest compressing metal foam increases the pressure drop and gas velocity, improving the convective liquid water removal. This is in agreement with the neutron imaging results that demonstrates an increase in the mass of accumulated liquid water with minimum compression compared to the medium and maximum compression cases. The results show that a balance between Ohmic resistance, water removal capacity and parasitic power is imperative for the optimal performance of metal foam based PEFCs.
Abstract
I13 is a 250 m long hard X-ray beamline for imaging and coherence experiments at the Diamond Light Source 1. The beamline comprises two independent experimental branches: one for imaging in ...direct space using X-ray microscopy and one for imaging in reciprocal space using coherent imaging techniques. The mechanical stability is very important for implementation of increased capabilities at latest generation of long beamlines 2. Therefore, the beam stability monitoring is essential part of the day-to-day operation of the beamlines as well as for analysis of mechanical instability sources for the Diamond II upgrade. In this paper we present the setup developed to measure mechanical stability of beamline based on optical autocollimator.
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•Design and Implementation of Polarized Neutron Imaging for the first time on IMAT imaging station at ISIS Neutron and Muon Source.•Validation of the system via characterization of ...the homogeneous magnetic field produced from a solenoid.•Magnetic characterization of additively manufactured MnAl samples indicate their magnetic anisotropy can be engineered via optimization of scan parameters.
In this study, we report the first case of design and implementation of a polarized neutron imaging option on the Imaging and Materials Science & Engineering Station (IMAT). This is a significant addition to the capabilities of the station that allows the characterization of advanced magnetic materials for different engineering applications. Combining its time-of-flight feature with a polarized beam yields data that facilitate both quantitative and qualitative analysis of magnetic materials. Using the simple field of an aluminium solenoid, we perform a characterization of the new setup. In addition, we present polarized measurements of additively manufactured (AM) MnAl samples where the magnetic anisotropy due to the fabrication process has been investigated as a first scientific application of the setup. The results indicate that the anisotropy of the material can be engineered through variation of the AM fabrication parameters.
•Combined visualization of magnetic domains/walls in high permeability electric steel.•Fringes observed with polarized neutron imaging, correlated to magnetic domains.•Magnetic domains oriented ...anti-parallel to each other with different magnetic fields.•Dark field imaging contrast helps the visualization of magnetic domain walls.•Also, the magnetic domains appear to be discontinuous at the grain boundaries.
In the present work, a combined study with polarized neutron imaging (PNI) and neutron-grating interferometry based dark field imaging (DFI) experiments on grain oriented high permeability steel sample with 3% Si and 0.35 mm thickness is reported. With the combination of these two experimental techniques it was possible to obtain the complex picture of magnetic domain distribution and domain walls in the electric steel samples. With the PNI technique, the observed fringe pattern contrast may be correlated with basic magnetic domains. These magnetic domains are oriented anti-parallel with respect to each other and the different magnetic field in each domain may lead to fringe pattern contrast. The magnetic domains are disrupted at the grain boundaries, observed as discontinuities in the fringe pattern contrast. In comparison, with DFI measurements, we visualized scattering contrast from magnetic domain walls. A clear correlation between basic domains (from PNI) and domain walls (using DFI) is observed. In the current study we also demonstrate the potential of combining two differential experimental techniques to visualize and obtain collective information about magnetic domains and domain walls.
In-depth understanding of water management is essential for the optimization of the performance and durability of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). Neutron imaging of liquid water has proven to ...be a powerful diagnostic technique, but it cannot distinguish between ‘legacy’ water that has accumulated in the system over time and ‘nascent’ water recently generated by reaction. Here, a novel technique is introduced to investigate the spatially resolved water exchange characteristics inside PEFCs. Hydro-electrochemical impedance imaging (HECII) involves making a small AC-sinusoidal perturbation to a cell and measuring the consequential water generated, using neutron radiographs, associated with the stimulus frequency. Subsequently, a least-squares estimation (LSE) analysis is applied to derive the spatial amplitude ratio and phase shift. This technique provides a complementary view to conventional neutron imaging and provides information on the source and ‘history’ of water in the system. By selecting a suitable perturbation frequency, HECII can be used to achieve an alternative image ‘contrast’ and identify different features involved in the water dynamics of operational fuel cells.
•Hydro-electrochemical impedance imaging applied to water management of PEFC.•HECII distinguish between 'legacy' and 'nascent' water in the PEFC.•The perturbation frequency of HECII affects water dynamics features.
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