Experimental visualization of water/ice phase distribution at cold start for practical-sized polymer electrolyte fuel cells

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Higuchi, Yuki Yoshimune, Wataru Kato, Satoru Hibi, Shogo Setoyama, Daigo Isegawa, Kazuhisa Matsumoto, Yoshihiro Hayashida, Hirotoshi Nozaki, Hiroshi Harada, Masashi Fukaya, Norihiro Suzuki, Takahisa Shinohara, Takenao Nagai, Yasutaka
Description	Yuki Higuchi and colleagues report a method to directly observe the distribution of water and ice in large polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). This information is critical for understanding the cold start performance of these cells. Their findings could guide the design of more effective coldstart protocols for PEFCs.
Abstract	The automotive industry aims to ensure the cold-start capability of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) for developing fuel cell electric vehicles that can be driven in cold climates. Water and ice behavior is a key factor in maintaining this capability. Previously reported methods for visualizing water and/or ice are limited to small-sized PEFCs ( < 50 cm2), while fuel cell electric vehicles are equipped with larger PEFCs. Here, we developed a system using a pulsed spallation neutron beam to visualize water distribution and identify water/ice phases in practical-sized PEFCs at a cold start. The results show direct evidence of a stepwise freezing behavior inside the PEFC. The produced water initially accumulated at the center of the PEFC and then froze, followed by PEFC shutdown as freezing progressed. This study can serve as a reference to guide the development of cold-start protocols, cell design, and materials for next-generation fuel cell electric vehicles.
Related Links	https://europepmc.org/backend/ptpmcrender.fcgi?accid=PMC10955971&blobtype=pdf
Volume Number	3
DOI	10.1038/s44172-024-00176-6
PubMed Central reference number	PMC10955971
PubMed reference number	PMC10955971
Journal	Communications Engineering [Commun Eng]
e-ISSN	27313395
Language	English
Publisher	Nature Publishing Group UK
Publisher Date	2024-01-01
Publisher Place	London
Access Restriction	Open
Rights License	Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons license and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. © The Author(s) 2024
Subject Keyword	Fuel cells Imaging techniques
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Engineering