Characterization of static and dynamic properties of water droplets on fibrous media

燃料电池具有为大范围应用提供清洁能源转换的潜力，包括住宅电力和道路运输。聚合物电解质膜（PEM）燃料电池，这是本研究的重点，产生热和水作为副产品。液态水的存在会引起关键部件之一多孔气体扩散电极的溢流，并导致燃料电池的“窒息”以及退化。为了设计适当的水管理策略，有必要观察和理解构成多孔电极的复杂纤维介质中的液态水传输。 用该基础设施赠款获得的仪器将允许对聚合物电解质燃料电池燃料电极中使用的纤维材料的润湿层的表面和界面特性进行调查和表征。这些信息将与领先的工业合作伙伴合作，直接用于“智能”气体扩散层的建模和开发，以提高燃料电池的效率，可靠性和寿命。

Fuel Cells have the potential of providing clean energy conversion for a large range of applications, including residential power and road transportation. Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells, which are the focus of this research, produce heat and water as by-products. The presence of liquid water can induce flooding of one of the key components, the porous gas diffusion electrodes, and result in "asphyxiation" of the fuel cell as well as degradation. In order to devise appropriate water management strategies, it is necessary to observe and understand the liquid water transport in the complex fibrous media that make up the porous electrodes.  The instrumentation acquired with this infrastructure grant will allow investigation and characterization of surface and interfacial properties of wetted layers of fibrous materials used in the electrodes of polymer electrolyte fuel cells fuel. This information will be directly feed into modelling and development of "smart" gas diffusion layer in collaboration with with leading industrial partners to increase the efficiency, reliability and lifetime of fuel cells.