| Download | - View accepted manuscript: Microstructure changes induced by capillary condensation in catalyst layers of PEM fuel cells (PDF, 907 KiB)
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| DOI | Resolve DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.08.072 |
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| Author | Search for: Ma, Liang1; Search for: Liu, Zhong-Sheng1; Search for: Huang, Cheng1; Search for: Chen, Su-Huan; Search for: Meng, Guang-Wei |
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| Affiliation | - National Research Council of Canada. NRC Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation
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| Format | Text, Article |
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| Subject | PEM fuel cell; Catalyst layer; Microstructure change; Capillary condensation; Pt/C particles |
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| Abstract | This paper proposes a hypothesis for explaining Pt/C particles’ coarsening inside the catalyst layers of a PEM fuel cell. The hypothesis includes the two parts: (1) due to capillary condensation a water-bridge could be formed between two neighboring nano-scale Pt/C particles at relative humidity under 100% when the surfaces of the Pt/C particles are hydrophilic; (2) the capillary force of the water-bridge tends to pull together the Pt/C particles. The relation is derived in this paper between the capillary force and the factors including the diameter of Pt/C particles, relative humidity, temperature, distance between the two neighboring Pt/C particles and water contact angle. A parametric study is performed showing some details about water-bridge formation. Finally, the stress level induced by the capillary force inside the Nafion thin-film connecting with the Pt/C particles is calculated. The result shows that the capillary force could be large enough to break apart the Nafion thin-film, facilitating the movement of Pt/C particles towards each other. |
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| Publication date | 2010-09-20 |
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| In | |
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| Language | English |
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| Peer reviewed | Yes |
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| NPARC number | 16910701 |
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| Export citation | Export as RIS |
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| Report a correction | Report a correction (opens in a new tab) |
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| Record identifier | 24a950c4-69c6-451a-a311-93b8151bf31c |
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| Record created | 2011-02-25 |
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| Record modified | 2020-04-17 |
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