Transport Phenomena in Emerging Microstructured Porous Materials of Sustainable Energy Conversion Systems

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Clean energy generation, storage, and conversion technologies are now a crucial global priority. The fundamental studies outlined here aim at investigating material interactions, transport phenomena as well as providing design tools for the development of next generation of efficient, durable and low-cost sustainable energy conversion systems, namely: i) polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells; ii) adsorption refrigeration systems; and iii) polymer lithium-ion batteries. The performance and reliability of these systems rely heavily on material morphology as well as the effectiveness of the transport of heat/mass/charge in the porous materials and associated interfaces that make up the core of these devices. These processes take place in a variety of materials and components having characteristic features ranging from nano- to centimeters. Due to multi-layered architecture of the targeted systems, significant losses can occur at interfaces; the interfacial phenomena need to be characterized and quantified. The in-situ environment in such devices makes experimental observations a major challenge. I propose new systematic experimental and theoretical methods to: i) characterize the multi-scale multi-layer porous core of such devices using a combination of advanced microscopy, reconstruction techniques, and cell modeling, ii) develop a mechanistic model to predict dynamic load effects on the microstructure core and the associated interfaces under real operating conditions, iii) measure and predict in-situ transport properties (both bulk and interfacial) in the core porous multi-layer cells, iv) improve understanding of the challenging issues of coupled and hysteresis effects in the transport properties through in-situ measurements and simulations; v) integrate state-of-the-art property models in multi-scale system simulations; and vi) validate and apply models to explore novel concepts and strategies to improve the efficiency of the targeted systems. This research will provide stimulating opportunities to train young researchers and will be benefited by (and transferred to) collaborating Canadian companies, and will advance knowledge in transport phenomena in porous media relevant to many engineering and natural sciences.