High Spatial and Temporal Resolution Imaging for Advancing Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers

The transportation sector is responsible for 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. In Canada, it is even more significant, i.e. 30% of country-wide emissions originate in the transportation sector, of which heavy-duty vehicles are an increasing contributor. Clean electrochemical energy conversion technologies, such as fuel cells and electrolyzers, are critical for reaching global net-zero 2050 decarbonization targets. However, cost and durability are key barriers to the widespread commercial adoption of fuel cells and electrolyzers, where these issues stem from inefficient transport of reactants and charge through materials and interfaces. Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells and electrolyzers are composed of porous materials, including the catalyst layer, microporous layer, and substrate, and both material characteristics and associated multiphase flow behaviour have a significant impact on electrochemical performance. Commercial materials typically exhibit highly heterogeneous material and chemical properties, both of which are not fully resolved in the current literature. To reach cost targets for widespread commercial adoption, we must realize materials that enable more effective multiphase flow phenomena than what currently exists. Mass transport losses in PEM fuel cells and electrolyzers are both prohibitively significant, yet designing these materials requires the a priori knowledge of how the heterogeneous properties of the porous materials and their interfacial contacts influence electrochemical performance. In this talk, I will discuss our numerical and experimental methods of elucidating the complex multiphase flow behaviour in the porous materials of PEM fuel cells and electrolyzers and the critical impacts of material design.