BRIGE: Understanding Mechanisms that Impact the Power Density of an Economical Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Stack

本次bridge奖的研究目标是了解非传统编织结构中受非均匀孔隙度影响的气体渗透率。这项研究将为开发可用于可再生能源设备的具有控制尺寸的功能梯度材料所需的机制提供基本的理解。这项研究的成功结果将是一种开发具有独特尺寸的功能材料的方法，从而可以控制气体的流动阻力。将进行数值模拟来预测气体如何流经渐变介质，并帮助确定最佳设计。将进行性能分析，以评估编织结构在功能系统中的性能。如果成功，这项研究的结果将导致通过具有不均匀孔隙度的可控渐变编织结构对渗透率的基本理解，这一点尚未得到很好的理解。各种应用的非传统多孔介质已经出现，这种理解可能会根据所需的性能影响这些系统的设计。这项工作将通过研究通常用于聚合物电解质膜燃料电池（pemfc）的编织碳布的尺寸来实现这一目标。这项工作将确定影响此类系统性能的关键参数，从而实现创新的堆设计，从根本上挑战传统燃料电池的配置及其效率。与技术目标相协调的是，实施一个名为“电极”（教育家领导节能和培训不同种族的研究人员）的合作项目的外展目标将被采用。

The research objective of this BRIGE award is to understand the permeability of gases through a non-traditional woven structure subjected to non-uniform porosity. This research will provide a fundamental understanding of the mechanisms required to develop a functional graduated material with controlled dimensionality, for use in renewable energy devices. A successful result of this investigation will be a methodology to develop functional materials with unique dimensionality, such that the resistance of a gas to flow may be controlled. Numerical modeling will be conducted to predict how the gases will flow through the graduated medium and to aid with defining the optimal design. Performance analysis will be conducted to evaluate the properties of the woven structure in a functional system. If successful, the results of this research will lead to a fundamental understanding of gas permeability through a controlled graduated woven structure with non-uniform porosity, which is not well understood. Nontraditional porous media for varying applications have emerged, and such an understanding may impact the design of these systems according to the resulting properties that are desired. The proposed work will contribute to this objective by studying the dimensionality of a woven carbon cloth, which is commonly used in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). This work will identify key parameters that influence the performance of such systems, leading to innovative stack designs that fundamentally challenge conventional fuel cell configurations and their effectiveness. Coordinated with the technical objective, the outreach goal of implementing a collaborative program coined ELECTRoDE (Educators Leading Energy Conservation and Training Researchers of Diverse Ethnicities) will be employed.