Advanced imaging for clean electrochemical energy conversion

减缓人为气候变化和实现地缘政治能源平等取决于有效储存和发电清洁能源以及减缓或恢复大气二氧化碳(CO2)水平。为了消除能源浪费，我们必须在可以利用或廉价生产的时候储存能源，在需要的时候高效而清洁地分配能源。要降低或恢复大气中的二氧化碳水平，我们必须既使用可再生能源，又将二氧化碳排放转化为有用的化学产品，同时隔离二氧化碳。通过燃料电池和电解槽等设备，电化学能量转换对于有效管理碳排放以及使用和分配世界能源资源至关重要。然而，燃料电池和电解槽在微米和纳米尺度上面临着对热量和质量传输的无效管理，这些挑战为应对全球能源和气候挑战所必需的下一代设计提供了障碍。微米级和纳米级的多孔材料在热质传递方面具有许多优点，如高比表面积、储热和多相传输；然而，在燃料电池和电解槽中，多孔材料通常具有多个、同时和并行的作用。除了这些相反的传输机制外，这些设备的传输行为是不透明的，这些传输行为高度动态，对无法通过传统手段可视化的操作条件动态敏感。拟议的研究计划旨在推进燃料电池和电解槽技术的建模、测试和操作成像，这些技术将促进燃料电池和电解槽的按需燃料电池发电和大气二氧化碳减排。

Mitigating anthropogenic climate change and achieving geopolitical energy equality hinge on efficiently storing and generating clean power and slowing or reverting atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levels. In order to eliminate energy waste, we must store energy when it can be harnessed or produced cheaply and distribute the energy efficiently and cleanly when it is needed. To reduce or revert atmospheric CO2 levels, we must both use renewable energy sources as well as convert CO2 emissions into useful chemical products that simultaneously sequester the CO2. Through devices such as fuel cells and electrolyzers, electrochemical energy conversion is vital for efficiently managing carbon emissions and using and distributing the world's energy resources. However, fuel cells and electrolyzers are faced with ineffective management of heat and mass transport at the microscale and nanoscale, and these challents provide barriers to next generation designs that are so vitally needed to address global energy and climate challenges. Microscale and nanoscale porous materials provide a multitude of advantages for heat and mass transfer purposes, such as high surface areas, thermal storage, and multiphase transport; however, in fuel cells and electrolzyers, porous materials typically serve multiple, simultaneous, and juxtaposed roles. In addition to these opposing transport mechanisms, the devices are opaque with transport behaviours that are highly dynamic and sensitive to operating conditions dynamics that cannot be visualized through conventional means. The proposed research program aims to advance modelling, testing, and in operando imaging of fuel cell and electrolyzer technologies that will advance both fuel cells and electrolyzers for on-demand fuel cell power and atmospheric CO2 reduction.