Profile
Keywords: polymer electrolyte electrolyzers, polymer electrolyte fuel cells, finite elements, electrochemistry
Dr. Marc Secanell is a professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta, Canada and the director of the Energy Systems Design Laboratory. His research interests are in the area of analysis and computational design of electrochemical energy systems such as fuel cells and electrolyzers. His current research projects include the fabrication of catalyst coated membranes for polymer electrolyte fuel cells and electrolyzers as well as the development of mathematical models for: a) multi-step electrochemical reactions, b) multi-component gas transport in porous media; and, c) multi-phase/reactive transport models for fuel cells. He is also actively working on the development of porous media characterization methodologies and on the development of numerical models for methane thermal decomposition reactors. He is the lead developer of the open-source fuel cell simulation toolbox OpenFCST, www.openfcst.org.
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Projects
Bifunctional Oxygen Electrodes for PEM-Unitized Regenerative Fuel Cell Fabricated By Inkjet Printing T06-P04, T06-A03 University of Alberta Publication 2024-10-22 T06-P04, T06-A03 Contact and Performance of Low Anode Loading CCMs for PEM Water Electrolysis at Different Clamping Pressures T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2025-01-01 Oskar Weiland, Lukas Stein, Luis Padilla, Patrick Trinke, Boris Bensmann,
Secanell, M. , Richard Hanke-Rauschenbach
T06-P04 State-of-the-Art Iridium-Based Catalysts for Acidic Water Electrolysis: A Minireview of Wet-Chemistry Synthesis Methods: Preparation routes for active and durable iridium catalysts With the increasing demand for clean hydrogen production, both as a fuel and an indispensable reagent for chemical industries, acidic water electrolysis has attracted considerable attention in academic and industrial research. Iridium is a well-accepted active and corrosion-resistant component of catalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). However, its scarcity demands breakthroughs in catalyst preparation technologies to ensure its most efficient utilisation. This minireview focusses on the wet-chemistry synthetic methods of the most active and (potentially) durable iridium catalysts for acidic OER, selected from the recent publications in the open literature. The catalysts are classified by their synthesis methods, with authors’ opinion on their practicality. The review may also guide the selection of the state-of-the-art iridium catalysts for benchmarking purposesT06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2021-01-01 T06-P04 Impact of Different Supports on the Performance of Ir Oxide Based Catalysts Synthesized Using Incipient Wetness Method T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2022-10-10 T06-P04 Study of electrochemical performance of IrOx/ATO catalysts with different Ir loading in acidic water electrolysis T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2022-05-23 T06-P04 Reducing PEM Water Electrolysis Anode Catalyst Layer Loading: Impact of Layer Conductivity and Activity Renewable energy can be used in a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer to create green
hydrogen, thereby enabling large scale energy storage. One of the main disadvantages of this
technology is the use of rare and expensive precious metals such as iridium and platinum as the catalyst in the anode catalyst layer (ACL), making the reduction of the use of these materials a key priority to enabling further commercialization of this technology. This project uses numerical modelling, with experimental validation, to investigate the charge and kinetic characteristics of the ACL that allow for catalyst reduction to occur without inducing a significant reduction in performance. The study shows that ACLs with high electronic and protonic conductivity, and with a low kinetic activity, are sensitive to loading changes. Such ACLs were found to be representative of those composed of an Ir black catalyst, and such a loading dependence was demonstrated in-house. Highly active ACLs, with at least one phase exhibiting a very poor conductivity, were found to have a very poor catalyst utilization, allowing for catalyst reduction. IrOx based ACLs were found to exhibit such characteristics, however while there is experimental evidence in the literature for the predicted insensitivity to loading [Taie et al. ACS AMI 2020, Fujimura et al. ECS PRIME 2020], it was not reproduced in-house. It is hypothesized that the electronic conductivity of the ACL may be compression dependent leading to better utilization, or that the ACL fabrication method did not produce a uniform layer. T06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2022-08-25 Eric Beaulieu, Michael Moore, Manas Mandal, Himanshi Dhawan,
Secanell, M. T06-P04 Strong Metal-Support Interactions in ZrO2-Supported IrOx Catalyst for Efficient Oxygen Evolution Reaction The use of ZrO2 as a support material for IrOx-based catalysts in oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalysis was studied using ex-situ characterization and rotating disk electrode electrochemical testing of supported IrxZr(1-x)O2 on ZrO2 of varying sizes. The catalyst exhibited high OER mass (specific) activity (712 Aurn:x-wiley:18673880:media:cctc202300668:cctc202300668-math-0001 ) and intrinsic activity (4.8 mAurn:x-wiley:18673880:media:cctc202300668:cctc202300668-math-0002 ) at 1.6 VRHE, attributed to IrxZr(1-x)O2 alloy formation, an interconnected network of Irx Zr(1-x)O2 nanoparticles and the presence of Ir(III)/Ir(IV) species throughout the bulk. It also appears to be resistant to Ir dissolution; however, accumulation of O2 bubbles in the catalyst microstructure and minor phase transformation of Ir(III)/Ir(IV) species during OER cause deactivation. Temperature-programmed desorption indicated a possible link between the observed high activity and higher amounts of adsorbed H2O and desorbed O2 species.T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2024-01-05 T06-P04 Development of Iridium Oxide catalysts for acidic water electrolysis T06-P04 Publication 2023-10-24 Himanshi Dhawan
T06-P04 Determination of PEFC Gas Diffusion Layer and Catalyst Layer Porosity Utilizing Archimedes Principle Porous media transport properties, such as permeability and diffusivity, are proportional to the porosity of the sample, thereby making the ability to quickly estimate porosity of paramount importance. A simple and inexpensive setup, free of hazardous chemicals, is proposed to measure the total porosity and thickness of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) diffusion media. The experimental setup is based on Archimedes’ principle. It uses a combination of a wetting (n-octane or IPA) and a non-wetting (water) fluid to estimate both the solid and bulk sample volumes of the porous media, and then these values are used to estimate the porosity. The results from the proposed setup were validated using mercury intrusion porosimetry, scanning electron microscopy imaging, and compressive thickness measurements for a range of commercial gas diffusion layer and in-house fabricated catalyst layer samples. The values for porosity and thickness from the setup were in reasonable agreement with those obtained by the other methods.T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2019-01-01 S Shukla, Wei Fei, Manas Mandal, J Zhou, M S Saha, J Stumper,
Secanell, M. T06-P04 Transient, multi-phase analysis of polymer electrolyte fuel cells: Insights from computational modeling at multiple scales and experiments Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) vehicles have already met most customer requirements including long range, quick refuelling, and start-up at sub-zero temperatures, however the cost of the PEFC remains prohibitively expensive for large scale commercialization. In order to reduce their costs, PEFCs must achieve higher current densities and reduce platinum loading. High current density operation however results in increased water production which accumulates over time in the porous media of the PEFC, thereby blocking fuel and reactant transport and effectively shutting down the cell. In order to analyze fuel cell architectures and strategies to mitigate water accumulation at high current densities, a validated transient, multi-scale numerical model that couples gas and liquid water transport, electronic and ionic transport, heat transfer and electrochemical reactions is still needed. Over the past decade, our research group has developed, in the open-source software OpenFCST [1], pore level imaging, analysis and simulation tools to study gas and liquid transport and electrochemical reactions in porous electrodes [2]; multi-physics volume-average numerical simulation models to study transport and electrochemical reactions in membrane electrode assemblies of PEFCs [3]; and, transient analysis tools for PEFC electrochemical impedance spectroscopy [4]. These tools can now be used to predict how water accumulates in varying electrode microstructures, and combined to generate a comprehensive numerical model that accounts for water accumulation over time at multiple spatial scales. This presentation aims at highlighting these recent advances in simulation tools and how, when combined with detailed experimental validation, they can be used to gain insight into the physical processes taking place inside the fuel cell, such as, water accumulation in catalyst layer with varying pore size distribution [2], water dynamics in the polymer electrolyte membrane [4] , the role of the microporous layer on mitigating water accumulation in the electrode [3], and the effect of hydrogen cross-over on reducing the open cell voltage of low loading platinum electrodes. T06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2022-04-20 T06-P04 Water transport in anion and proton exchange membranes Water balance in anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) is crucial because water not only is produced in the anode but also functions as a reactant in the cathode. Therefore, accurate measurement of AEM water transport properties is important for AEM design to improve AEMFC performance and durability. Very few studies report water transport properties of AEMs; even in those limited studies, interfacial transport rates were either not considered in data analysis or not given as a function of water activity. In this work, the liquid–vapor permeation method was used to determine the water flux across the Aemion® AH1-HNN8-50-X, Fumapem® FAA-3-30/50, and Versogen™ PiperION-A40. Using three numerical models, the results were analyzed to understand whether diffusion or interfacial transport resistances were limiting, and the values were estimated. Our results indicate that interfacial transport is limiting; therefore, the interfacial exchange rate and its activation energy were determined. Water desorption rate of AH1-HNN8-50-X is similar to Nafion®, and the activation energy for this process is also similar at 53.4 kJ/mol. On the other hand, FAA-3-30/50 and PiperION-A40 exhibit two to three times faster desorption and a lower activation energy: 46.0, 41.8, and 46.8 kJ/mol, respectively.T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2022-12-21 T06-P04 Water Transport Characterization of Anion and Proton Exchange Membranes T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2022-10-01 T06-P04 Inkjet Printed Iridium Alloy Catalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis Poster for Research Symposium on the following:
Hydrogen can be produced through water electrolysis with electricity from renewable energy making it a viable green alternative to fossil fuels. Catalysts used for water splitting are primarily made of iridium but are expensive, so alternatives that use less material are needed to become more commercially feasible. For this project we will use iridium alloy catalysts, IrNi and IrCu, which use less iridium by replacing some of it with the other metal. Small-scale tests have shown better activity than pure iridium due to the interaction between the metals. The catalysts will be deposited on the membrane using inkjet printing which has the benefits of precise control of deposition and can create low catalyst loading by forming very thin layers usually 3-5 µm. The performance of the catalyst coated membranes will be directly compared to state-of-the-art systems by evaluation in a proton exchange membrane electrolysis cell by measuring hydrogen production efficiency and cell durability.T06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2021-09-20 T06-P04 Producing Green Hydrogen through Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysis using Low Loading Iridium-Nickel Catalysts This was a 3 minute thesis presentation for the NSERC CREAT ME2 competition where the following was discussed:
Climate change continues to be a growing concern around the world, and to help reduce the negative effects of adding CO2 to our atmosphere we would like to transition to renewable sources of energy. To continue to decarbonize the production of electricity the Canadian Energy Regulator plans for a substantial amount of wind and solar to be added up until 2050 to help meet the countries climate goals. As of 2018 Wind and Solar only accounted for about 5% and <1% of electricity generation in Canada, respectively. Already in Alberta we have seen some of this increase as the percentage of Wind energy has gone up from 6% to 13% and solar has increased from <0.1% to 4% from 2018 to 2021. However, a disadvantage of these renewable sources is that they produce power intermittently. For example, if there is no wind or it is nighttime. To overcome this disadvantage, we can store the excess energy it produces at peak production times for later use. One way to store that energy is in the chemical energy of hydrogen since it can also be used as a fuel. Hydrogen can be produced through the process of electrolysis which uses the renewable electricity as the power source to split water into hydrogen and oxygen. One of the challenges of splitting water is that the reaction takes lots of energy and is slow which is why a catalyst is used to decrease the energy required. The best catalysts for this reaction tend to be made of iridium at the anode and platinum at the cathode which are a couple of the scarcest metals on the planet. My masters research focuses on the anode side reaction, and I am looking at a way to reduce catalyst cost and amount of iridium used by replacing some of it with another metal to make an alloy, in my case Nickel is used. This not only decreases the amount of iridium used but also has the potential to increase the efficiency of the reaction. This has previously been shown on a small scale but now I want to bring it to a larger scale and closer to what is being used commercially. This means using electrolyzer cells that can be stacked together called membrane electrode assemblies as shown on the slide. The cell type that I use is called a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer. This is because the central membrane allows the transport of protons, which are hydrogen ions, from the anode to the cathode side where it recombines with the electrons to form hydrogen gas. Most importantly, experiments will be done to see how to make a functioning catalyst layer, look at the efficiency of the cell and, if possible, reduce the amount of catalyst we put on the membrane surface without significantly sacrificing performance. Research in this field will allow us to further utilize this hydrogen technology as it works to lower costs and save rare materials. Green hydrogen produced this way can be used in a fuel cell to reclaim the electrical energy which can be used to offset fossil fuels in both power generation as well as in fuel cell vehicles. This technology will surely help reduce the effects of climate change by providing a way to store large amounts of excess energy that remains carbon free from beginning to end.T06-P04 Activity 2022-05-03 Eric Beaulieu
T06-P04 Alexander Graham Bell Canada Graduate Scholarship - Master’s (NSERC) 2021/22 T06-P04 Award 2021-09-01 Eric Beaulieu
T06-P04 Walter H Johns Graduate Fellowship 2021/22 T06-P04 Award 2021-09-01 Eric Beaulieu
T06-P04 NSERC CREATE ME2 CREATE and Use Hydrogen Poster Contest 1st place in poster contest.T06-P04 Award 2022-08-25 Eric Beaulieu
T06-P04 Improving Utilization of Ir-Based Catalyst Layers in Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers T06-P04, T12-P03 Publication 2024-01-08 Eric Beaulieu
T06-P04, T12-P03 Experimental and numerical analysis of a methane thermal decomposition reactor T02-P01, T02-P06 University of Alberta Publication 2017-11-05 " Derek Paxman
" ,
" S Trottier
" , M R Flynn, Larry William Kostiuk,
Secanell, M. T02-P01, T02-P06 Analysis of Inkjet Printed Catalyst Coated Membranes for Polymer Electrolyte Electrolyzers T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2018-05-01 T06-P04 Analysis of the products and kinetic rates of methane thermal decomposition. Part II: Numerical models Not a formal publication, so that results can be published in a Journal without copyright issues
T02-P01, T02-P06 University of Alberta Publication 2019-05-16 Ambuj Punia, James Kole William Tatum, Jason Scott Olfert, Larry William Kostiuk,
Secanell, M. T02-P01, T02-P06 Analysis of the products and kinetic rates of methane thermaldecomposition. Part I: Experimental apparatus T02-P01, T02-P06 University of Alberta Publication 2019-05-16 James Kole William Tatum, Ambuj Punia,
Secanell, M. , Larry William Kostiuk, Jason Scott Olfert
T02-P01, T02-P06 Decoupling structure-sensitive deactivation mechanisms of Ir/IrOx electrocatalysts toward oxygen evolution reaction T06-P04, T09-C01 University of Alberta Publication 2019-03-01 T06-P04, T09-C01 Mechanical Engineering Club’s Award for Excellence in Teaching 2018 Mechanical Engineering Club’s Award for Excellence in TeachingT06-P04 University of Alberta Award 2018-12-03 T06-P04 Measurement of Ionic Conductivity of PEM Water Electrolyzer Electrodes In this paper, the hydrogen pump technique is used to study the proton-transport resistance of polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer electrodes. Three catalyst coated membranes made by sandwiching two membranes together were prepared, with two of them including an intermediate pseudo catalyst layer (PCL) with 35 and 55% wt. ionomer loadings. The proton-transport resistance was calculated by subtracting the overall resistance of the cell without a PCL from that with a PCL. The effect of the ionomer loading on the PCL proton conductivity was studied. As expected, the proton conductivity increased with increasing ionomer loading. The results are in line with the expectation based on the literature data and show that the hydrogen pump technique can be used to obtain the proton-transport resistance of the electrodes.T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2020-02-16 T06-P04 Kinetics of methane pyrolysis: An optimized mechanism Not a formal publication, so that results can be published in a Journal without copyright issues
T02-P01, T02-P06 University of Alberta Publication 2020-02-19 Ambuj Punia, James Kole William Tatum, Jason Scott Olfert, Larry William Kostiuk,
Secanell, M. T02-P01, T02-P06 Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy of PEM Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers Invited talk at the Telluride Workshop on Platinum Group Metal-free Electrocatalysts: Small Molecules Activation and ConversionT06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2020-01-21 T06-P04 Keynote presentation on the future of mobility UAlberta EcoCar Unveiling -- Keynote presentation on the future of mobilityT06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2020-03-05 T06-P04 A Numerical Study on the Impact of Cathode Catalyst Layer Loading on the Open Circuit Voltage in a Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell The open circuit voltage (OCV) in a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is typically recorded as being approximately 300 mV lower than the equilibrium voltage computed by the Nernst equation. While a number of causes have been proposed, the voltage drop is generally attributed to the oxidation of crossover hydrogen in the cathode. A single phase, through-the-channel model is presented that includes hydrogen transport across the membrane, an empirical model for the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) fit to experimental data obtained at high potentials and a multi-step kinetic model to describe the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Model predictions were compared to experimentally obtained OCVs and the results show that the model is capable of capturing the experimentally observed changes in OCV with platinum loading, as well as fuel cell performance; and that, at low Pt loadings, small quantities of unreacted hydrogen leave the cathode because the HOR is kinetically limited by oxide blocking and anion adsorption. A parametric study is used to show that a minimum OCV is achieved at ultra-low loadings. Results also show that only a multi-step ORR model can simultaneously capture polarization data and the OCV T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2021-04-19 Michael Moore,
" Shantanu Shukla
" ,
" Stephan Voss
" ,
" Kunal Karan
" , Adam Zev Weber,
" Iryna Zenyuk
" ,
Secanell, M. T06-P04 Measurement of the Protonic and Electronic Conductivities of PEM Water Electrolyzer Electrodes Reducing anode catalyst layer proton- and electron-transport resistances in polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzers is critical to improving its performance and maximizing catalyst utilization at high current density. A hydrogen pump technique is adapted to measure the protonic conductivity of IrOx-based catalyst layers. The protonic resistance of the catalyst layer is obtained by subtracting the protonic resistance of an assembly of two NRE211 membranes hot-pressed together from an assembly of two NRE211 membranes with an IrOx intermediate layer. The through-plane and in-plane electronic conductivities were also measured using two- and four-probe methods, respectively. Using these techniques, the protonic and electronic conductivities of the IrOx catalyst layers with varying Nafion loading were measured. The results show that the limiting charge-transport phenomena in the IrOx catalyst layer can be either proton or electron transport, depending on the ionomer loading in the catalyst layer. These results are validated by numerical simulation, as well as by comparison to the high-frequency resistance of an electrolyzer with the same layer.T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2020-10-20 T06-P04 Experimental and numerical analysis of methane pyrolysis at elevated pressure Gas-phase kinetics play an important role in understanding the intermediate species formation during methane pyrolysis. A previously proposed reaction mechanism by Dean was modified, and optimal values of the pre-exponential factors were obtained using sensitivity analysis and optimization. A significant improvement in the model predictions was observed once the optimal pre-exponential factor values were implemented in the reaction mechanism. The numerical results obtained in the temperature and pressure range of 1000--1400 K and 0.1--3 atm, respectively, were in close agreement with the major gas-phase species concentration profiles up to the start of carbon formation. The autocatalysis effect observed in ethane was found to be temperature-dependent and completely disappeared above 1300 K. The inhibition effect of hydrogen addition in the initial mixture on methane conversion was found to be in close agreement with the available studies in the literature. The optimized mechanism can be used to accurately predict methane conversion, including the primary, secondary and tertiary gas-phase products. T02-P01 University of Alberta Publication 2023-09-01 Ambuj Punia, James Kole William Tatum, Jason Scott Olfert, Larry William Kostiuk,
Secanell, M. T02-P01 Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Electrodes: From Fabrication, Characterization and Testing to Multi-Scale Numerical Simulation Presentation at Hydrogenics/Cummins to attract additional funds and share research with Canadian companiesT06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2021-04-28 T06-P04 Multi-Scale Analysis of Transport in Dry and Partially-Saturated Porous Media Multi-Scale Analysis of Transport in Dry and Partially-Saturated Porous MediaT06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2021-04-14 T06-P04 Estimation of relative transport properties in porous transport layers using pore-scale and pore-network simulations Estimation of relative transport properties in porous transport layers using pore-scale and pore-network simulations
T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2021-01-19 T06-P04 Improved Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Water Electrolyzer Performance by Using Carbon Black as a Pore Former in the Anode Catalyst Layer The porosity of anode polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolyzer catalyst layers (CLs) is usually low due to the use of an unsupported catalyst. By adding carbon to the Ir catalyst ink, which is then oxidized in-situ, the CL porosity can be increased from 58% to 77% while the number of CL cracks is decreased. The electrochemical surface area (ECSA) also increases from 21.5 to 26.9 m2 /g. Cell performance improves substantially for cells with carbon at both low and high current density. At 1.8 V, the current density increases from 3.16 to 3.70 A/cm2 with increasing carbon content. Volcano-shaped cracks, observed in used CL without carbon, disappear with the addition of carbon. These cracks are hypothesized to be caused by high gas pressures within the CL, which are reduced due to improved mass transport. The degradation rate also improves from 626 to 522 μV/h with carbon addition. Anode electrodes with and without carbon are also fabricated with a low electrically conductive IrOx catalyst. Results also show increased porosity, ECSA, and performance at low current density, however no improvement was observed at high current.
T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2022-04-20 T06-P04 Transient, multi-scale, multi-phase analysis of polymer electrolyte fuel cells and electrolyzers In this presentation, the micro-scale simulation tools developed in the open-source software OpenFCST to estimate pore size distribution and transport properties from tomographic and stochastic reconstruction images will be discussed. A cluster-based full morphology algorithm will be presented to study water intrusion. Finite element solvers will also be presented to study transport and electrochemical reactions in CLs with varying pore-size distribution [4, 5]. Our results show that the pore-size distribution can clearly affect transport parameters and the liquid pressure at which the onset of mass transport is manifested. Then, a transient, macro-scale (volume-averaged), multi-phase membrane electrode assembly model, based on the pore-size distribution framework by Zhou et al. [3], will be presented that can integrate micro-scale findings into the macro-scale model. This advanced model will be shown to be able to predict fast and slow linear sweep voltammograms of fuel cell operation at low and high current density, impedance spectroscopy of fuel cells at low and moderate current density, and to predict large fluctuations in cell voltage/current density at high saturation. Numerical results will be compared to experimental data obtained using a single channel fuel cell. A similar framework will be proposed for electrolysis applications.T06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2022-03-15 T06-P04 Multi-phase analysis of polymer electrolyte fuel cells at multiple scales This presentation aims at highlighting recent advances in micro- and macro-scale multi-phase flow
simulation tools and how, when combined with detailed experimental validation, they can be used to
gain insight into the physical processes inside the fuel cell, such as water accumulation in catalyst layer with varying pore size distribution, water dynamics in the membrane, and the role of microporous
layers on mitigating water accumulation in the electrode.
T06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2022-04-20 T06-P04 PEMFC Cell & Water Management (Session Chair) PEMFC Cell & Water Management session at the 18th Symposium on Modeling and Experimental Validation of Electrochemical Energy TechnologiesT06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2022-04-20 T06-P04 Panel discussion: Computational Tools for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Analysis and Design Panel discussion: Computational Tools for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Analysis and DesignT06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2022-04-20 T06-P04 Analysis of the Porosity Production in LPBF Process Using Designed Porosity and Process Parameters T06-Q05, T06-A03 University of Alberta Publication 2022-06-21 T06-Q05, T06-A03 Performance Loss Breakdown in Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (AEMFCs) Anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) open the possibility of using cheaper non-platinum group metal (non-PGM) catalysts, and as a results they have received significant attention in recent years. Most AEMFCs still exhibit limited performance compared to proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The key performance limitations include: a)AEMFC anode and cathode overpotentials are not negligible (HOR kinetics on PGM catalysts in alkaline media is around two orders of magnitude slower than that in acidic environments), b)The water produced by HOR and gained by osmotic drags causes flooding in AEMFC anode. To improve the AEMFC performance, it is essential to know if the potential loss of the AEMFC is derived from anode or cathode. There are limited studies on analyzing the potential losses of the individual electrode of AEMFCs. Performance of individual electrode acquired by modelling studies was based on many estimated parameters . The existing experimental tool, the three-electrode AEMFC, showed unexplainable high anode overpotential, which needs further validation.
T06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2022-07-25 T06-P04 Numerical Study of the Impact of Two-Phase Flow in the Anode Catalyst Layer on the Performance of Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolysers T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2023-04-14 T06-P04 Characterising PEMWE performance: a numerical study on the impact of ACL permeability and electronic conductivity T06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2022-07-23 T06-P04 A Numerical Study on the Impact of Low Electronic Conductivity on PEMWE Electrolyser Performance T06-P04 University of Alberta Activity 2021-05-30 T06-P04 Dataset of methane pyrolysis products in a batch reactor as a function of time at high temperatures and pressures T02-P01, T02-P06 University of Alberta Publication 2023-04-01 James Kole William Tatum, Ambuj Punia, Larry William Kostiuk,
Secanell, M. , Jason Scott Olfert
T02-P01, T02-P06 Insights on designing non-PGM catalyst layers at low humidity T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2023-04-01 Yongwook Kim, Luis P Urbina, Tristan Asset,
Secanell, M. , Plamen Atanassov, Jake Barralet, Jeff T Gostick
T06-P04 Structured porous 17-PH stainless steel layer fabrication through laser powder bed fusion T06-A03 University of Alberta Publication 2024-01-01 T06-A03 Low loading inkjet printed bifunctional electrodes for proton exchange membrane unitized regenerative fuel cells T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2023-01-01 T06-P04 Good Practices and Limitations of the Hydrogen Pump Technique for Catalyst Layer Protonic Conductivity Estimation T06-P04 University of Alberta Publication 2023-01-01 T06-P04 Characterization of particles generated by non-catalytic methane pyrolysis in a tubular flow reactor T02-P01 University of Alberta Publication 2024-11-08 T02-P01 A Reduced Methane Pyrolysis Mechanism for Above-Atmospheric Pressure Conditions T02-P01 University of Alberta Publication 2024-09-01 Ambuj Punia, Larry William Kostiuk, Jason Scott Olfert,
Secanell, M. T02-P01 Exploring the impact of ionomer content and distribution on inkjet printed cathodes for anion exchange membrane fuel cells Electrode composition optimization is critical to achieving high and stable anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC) performance. In this article, inkjet printing is pioneered as a method to fabricate AEMFC electrodes with varying and graded cathode ionomer loading in order to assess its impact on electrode electrochemical properties, cell performance and stability. Inkjet printed catalyst layers (CLs) exhibited decreasing porosity with increasing ionomer content, maintaining a constant active area at 50 C under fully humidified conditions. The increase in active area and ionic conductivity with increasing ionomer content was detectable only at higher temperatures. At 60 C with 90% relative humidity inlet gases, the AEMFCs with cathode electrodes with optimal 20 wt% uniform ionomer content achieved a highly repeatable and stable performance of 0.53 W/cm2 with a total loading of 0.3 mg/cm2. Grading the cathode ionomer content, with higher concentration near the membrane and lower near the gas diffusion layer (GDL), does not improve cell performance, indicating neither cathode conductivity nor mass transport limits performance. When tested at 80 C, AEMFCs with a graded cathode ionomer structure (30 wt% near the membrane and 20 wt% near the GDL) demonstrated improved stability compared to those with a uniform 20 wt% ionomer content. This stability improvement is attributed to better water retention with more cathode ionomer content, as evidenced by the cell’s ability to maintain low resistance.T06-P04, T06-A03 University of Alberta Publication 2025-01-01 T06-P04, T06-A03 Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Alkaline Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzers Experimental and Numerical Analysis of Alkaline Exchange Membrane Water ElectrolyzersT06-A03 University of Alberta Publication 2024-11-22 Jake Mouallem,
Secanell, M. , Jasper Eitzen, Andrea Quintero, Scott Storbakken
T06-A03 Exploring the Impact of Cathode Ionomer Content on Alkaline Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (AEMFCs) Using Inkjet Printing Technique T06-P04, T06-A03 University of Alberta Publication 2024-10-22 T06-P04, T06-A03 Characterization of carbon derived from ferrocene-catalyzed methane decomposition in a floating catalyst tubular reactor University of Alberta Publication 2026-01-01 Determination of anode and cathode overpotentials in AEMFCs using multiple edge-type reference electrodes: Experiments and simulations In anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), both the anode and cathode significantly contribute to cell voltage losses. To distinguish these contributions, a new AEMFC catalyst-coated membrane (CCM) with multiple edge-type reference electrodes (REs) was rapidly and reliably manufactured using inkjet printing and integrated into a cell. Experiments revealed that at low current densities, cathode losses dominate. However, anode losses rapidly increase with current density, becoming comparable to cathode losses at 1 A/cm2 (0.41 V for the anode and 0.44 V for the cathode). This experimental data was used to develop a numerical AEMFC model that accurately reproduces overall cell voltage, half-cell potentials, and high-frequency resistance (HFR). The validated model shows that measured half-cell potentials contain both kinetic overpotential and ohmic losses from membrane and catalyst layer, and …T06-A03 University of Alberta Publication 2025-01-01 T06-A03 Using Edge-Type Reference Electrodes to Estimate Anode and Cathode Overpotentials in Alkaline Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells and Electrolysers T06-A03 University of Alberta Publication 2025-01-01 T06-A03
