NSERC-DFG Sustain: Towards Computational Design of Hydrocarbon-Based Catalyst Coated Membranes for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Water Electrolysis (ComDeWE)

ComDeWE项目的目的是利用阿尔伯塔大学（U Alberta）的数值多尺度建模工具，以及弗莱堡大学（U Freiburg）、德国航空航天中心（DLR）、西蒙弗雷泽大学（SFU）和阿尔伯塔大学（U Alberta）的原位和非原位制造和表征工具，设计出具有新型负载型电催化剂的最佳全碳氢化合物质子交换膜电解（PEMWE）电池。该项目将重点利用申请人开发的五种技术来创建一个概念验证的全碳氢化合物PEMWE。这包括：a) SFU的Holdcroft博士的碳氢化合物膜专业知识，SFU、U Freiburg和U Alberta开发的催化剂层制造技术；b)新型负载型DLR电催化剂；c)阿尔伯塔大学、弗莱堡大学和SFU的分级电极喷墨打印和超声波喷涂电极制造工具；d)在DLR开发的分段PEMWE硬件，用于研究局部电流密度和温度分布；e)验证和使用由阿尔伯塔大学和DLR开发的微观和宏观数值模拟工具，以发现最佳的膜和电极厚度以及电极组成。迄今为止，所有关于将碳氢化合物基材料与用于PEMWE的ccm相结合的研究都是由繁琐的实验试错驱动的。据推测，由于这些膜的特性非常不同（例如，更高的质子导电性，减少气体交叉和增加膨胀），因此需要更全面的方法来分析和设计它们。利用新型支撑催化剂也需要一个更全面的方法来设计电极。该提案利用了这些设施长期以来的研究活动和对最先进实验室设备的投资，以及SFU、弗莱堡大学、阿尔伯塔大学和DLR之间的合作。国际合作解决了为PEM电解槽开发合适材料的挑战。

The aim of the project ComDeWE is to design optimal wholly hydrocarbon proton exchange membrane electrolysis (PEMWE) cells with novel supported electrocatalyst by taking advantage of the numerical multi-scale modelling tools at the University of Alberta (U Alberta), and in-situ and ex-situ fabrication and characterization tools at the University of Freiburg (U Freiburg), German Aerospace Center (DLR), Simon Fraser University (SFU) and the U Alberta. The project will focus on leveraging five technologies developed by the applicants to create a proof-of-concept wholly hydrocarbon PEMWE. These are: a) hydrocarbon based membrane expertise from Dr. Holdcroft at SFU and catalyst layer fabrication techniques developed at SFU, U Freiburg and U Alberta; b) novel supported electrocatalysts from DLR; c) graded-electrode enabling inkjet printing and ultrasonic spray electrode fabrication tools at U Alberta, U Freiburg and SFU; d) segmented PEMWE hardware developed at DLR to study local current density and temperature distribution; and, e) the validation and use of micro- and macro-scale numerical simulation tools developed at U Alberta and DLR for discovering the optimal membrane and electrode thickness as well as electrode composition. To date, all research related to the integration of hydrocarbon-based materials to CCMs for PEMWE has been driven by tedious experimental trial-and-error. It is hypothesized that, because of the very different characteristics of these membranes (e.g., higher proton conductivity, reduced gas crossover and increased swelling), a more holistic approach to their analysis and design is required. Taking advantage of novel supported catalyst also requires a more holistic approach to electrode design. This proposal leverages the long history of research activities and investments in state-of-the-art laboratory equipment at these facilities as well as previous collaborations between SFU, UFreiburg, UAlberta and DLR. The international collaboration addresses the challenges of developing suitable materials for PEM electrolyzers.