Publications related to PEMFC system efficiency optimisation through model based control strategies

Electrochemical devices and computer science: water/thermal management of proton exchange membrane fuel cells and electrolyzers in different scales

The current restrictions on the registration of combustion engines in different countries and the harmful impacts of fossil fuels on the environment and human health have motivated decision-makers to use batteries and/or fuel cells as alternatives for comb ...

EPFL2023

Reversible photo-electrochemical device for solar hydrogen and power generation

Sophia Haussener, Alexandre Dominique M. Cattry, Saurabh Yuvraj Tembhurne, Matthieu Jonin, Mahendra Patel

A reversible photo-electrochemical device operating under concentrated irradiation could offer a stand-alone solution for producing solar fuel (in photo-driven electrolysis mode) and power (in fuel cell mode). This strategy would present the advantage of h ...

2024

Membrane electrode assembly simulation of anion exchange membrane water electrolysis

Jan Van Herle, Zoé Mury, Suhas Nuggehalli Sampathkumar, Khaled Lawand

Anion exchange membrane water electrolysis (AEMWE) offers a green hydrogen production method that eliminates the need for platinum group metals (PGM) as electrocatalysts. This study employs a COMSOL (R) 6.0 model to simulate a 1x1 cm(2) Ni fibre - Raney (R ...

Elsevier2024

Green hydrogen production using Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 bioanode and cuprous oxide-based photocathode

Michele Morgante

In recent years, many efforts have been made to find alternative renewable energy sources that can ideally replace the use of fossil fuels in all aspects. One of the new emerging energy technologies is the bioelectrochemical system, of which two types are ...

EPFL2024

Spinel Protective Coatings for Solid Oxide Cell (SOC) Interconnects (ICs)

Samaneh Daviran

Abstract The degradation of metal interconnects (ICs) in Solid Oxide Cells (SOCs) primarily results from chromium (Cr) oxide scale growth on stainless-steel substrates, causing ohmic loss and air-side electrode poisoning by Cr. This thesis addresses these ...

EPFL2024

Quantifying mass transport limitations in a microfluidic CO2 electrolyzer with a gas diffusion cathode

Sophia Haussener, Venu Gopal Agarwal

A gas diffusion electrode (GDE) based CO2 electrolyzer shows enhanced CO2 transport to the catalyst surface, significantly increasing current density compared to traditional planar immersed electrodes. A two-dimensional model for the cathode side of a micr ...

2024

Stability and degradation of (oxy)nitride photocatalysts for solar water splitting

Sophia Haussener, Franky Esteban Bedoya Lora

Advancing towards alternative technologies for the sustainable production of hydrogen is a necessity for the successful integration of this potentially green fuel in the future. Photocatalytic and photoelectrochemical water splitting are promising concepts ...

2024

Advancing Cell-Free Synthetic Biology: From sustained PURE protein synthesis to an isothermal one-pot DNA replication system

Laura Sophie Grasemann

One of the goals of synthetic biology is the development of an artificial cell. Building an artificial cell from scratch will provide a deeper understanding of fundamental mechanisms and models in biology and promises to contribute towards building novel p ...

EPFL2024

Perspective Alkaline electrolyzers: Powering industries and overcoming fundamental challenges

Hubert Girault

For the sustainable development of the renewable hydrogen sector, alkaline electrolysis appears to be a technology of choice. Nevertheless, despite its long history that showed its reliability in the industrial field and despite the traditional belief from ...

Cell Press2024

Atomic level insight into irradiation effects in nuclear fuel materials

Shaileyee Bhattacharya

Microstructural evolution during in-pile irradiation, radiation damage effects and fission products behavior in UO2 nuclear fuel are key issues in understanding and for the modeling of the performance as well as safety characteristics of nuclear fuels in t ...

EPFL2024

The design and development of anion exchange membranes for hydrogen fuel cells

Xingyu Wu

Hydrogen fuel cells are an essential component of hydrogen economy, which have been advocated as a major path towards the decarbonization of the energy sector. Within the two main types of low-temperature hydrogen fuel cells, anion-exchange membrane fuel c ...

EPFL2023

Performance evaluation and the implementation of the turbocharger, fuel cell, and battery in Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs)

Jan Van Herle, Hossein Pourrahmani

The current study evaluates integrating fuel cell technology into the batteries as an alternative for internal combustion engines (ICEs) for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV). To further improve the performance of the UAV, a turbocharger is also integrated to ...

Elsevier2023

Expansion Work Recovery of Hydrogen for a FC-Truck-Tentative Design of an Expansion Machine

Alfred Rufer

Hydrogen powered vehicles use high-pressure reservoirs from which the gas is transferred to the low-pressure fuel-cell via a classical pressure reduction valve. In these systems no expansion work is recovered and the question is addressed of the potential ...

MDPI2023

Three-dimensional nanoimaging of fuel cell catalyst layers

Vasiliki Tileli, Robin Pierre Alain Girod, Timon Lazaridis

Catalyst layers in proton exchange membrane fuel cells consist of platinum-group-metal nanocatalysts supported on carbon aggregates, forming a porous structure through which an ionomer network percolates. The local structural character of these heterogeneo ...

NATURE PORTFOLIO2023

Insights into Electrocatalyst Transformations Studied in Real Time with Electrochemical Liquid-Phase Transmission Electron Microscopy

Vasiliki Tileli, Tzu-Hsien Shen, Robin Pierre Alain Girod

The value of operando and in situ characterization methodologies for understanding electrochemical systems under operation can be inferred from the upsurge of studies that have reported mechanistic insights into electrocatalytic processes based on such mea ...

Amer Chemical Soc2023

An Advanced Alkaline Al-Air Fuel Cell Using L-Ascorbic Acid Interface Layer upon Al Anode via Gradient Anti-corrosion

Pengfei Zhang, Manhui Wei

Al metal is considered as an excellent anode material for metal-air fuel cells thanks to the advantages in terms of capacity and energy density. However, the anodic parasitic corrosion has brought great obstacles to the performance breakthrough of Al-air f ...

AMER CHEMICAL SOC2023

The 2022 applied physics by pioneering women: a roadmap

Anna Fontcuberta i Morral, Hyunjung Kim, Hui Dong

Women have made significant contributions to applied physics research and development, and their participation is vital to continued progress. Recognizing these contributions is important for encouraging increased involvement and creating an equitable envi ...

IOP Publishing Ltd2023

2023 Roadmap on molecular modelling of electrochemical energy materials

Alfredo Pasquarello, Chunmin Zhang, Assil Bouzid

New materials for electrochemical energy storage and conversion are the key to the electrification and sustainable development of our modern societies. Molecular modelling based on the principles of quantum mechanics and statistical mechanics as well as em ...

Iop Publishing Ltd2023

The thermodynamic and life-cycle assessments of a novel charging station for electric vehicles in dynamic and steady-state conditions

Jan Van Herle, Hossein Pourrahmani, Chengzhang Xu

The current study performs the thermodynamic and life-cycle assessments (LCA) of a novel charging station in two system designs. The goal is to design an efficient charging station for electric vehicles with high efficiencies and low environmental impacts ...

Nature Portfolio2023

Readiness evaluation of SOFC-MGT hybrid systems with carbon capture for distributed combined heat and power

Jürg Alexander Schiffmann, Jan Van Herle, Michele Gaffuri, Victoria Xu Hong He

The aggravation of climate change calls for the timely development and implementation of highly efficient, renewable, zero- or negative-emission energy solutions with high technological readiness and feasibility levels. Solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) consti ...

Elsevier2023