This animated 3-D rendering ( view larger size ), generated by an X-ray-based imaging technique at Berkeley Lab’s Advanced Light Source, shows tiny pockets of water (blue) in a fibrous sample. The X-ray experiments showed how moisture and temperature can affect hydrogen fuel-cell performance. (Credit: Berkeley Lab)
Like a well-tended greenhouse garden, a specialized type of hydrogen fuel cell - which shows promise as a clean, renewable next-generation power source for vehicles and other uses - requires precise temperature and moisture controls to be at its best. If the internal conditions are too dry or too wet, the fuel cell won't function well. But seeing inside a working fuel cell at the tiny scales relevant to a fuel cell's chemistry and physics is challenging, so scientists used X-ray-based imaging techniques at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Argonne National Laboratory to study the inner workings of fuel-cell components subjected to a range of temperature and moisture conditions. The research team, led by Iryna Zenyuk, a former Berkeley Lab postdoctoral researcher now at Tufts University, included scientists from Berkeley Lab's Energy Storage and Distributed Resources Division and the Advanced Light Source (ALS), an X-ray source known as a synchrotron. The ALS lets researchers image in 3-D at high resolution very quickly, allowing them to look inside working fuel cells in real-world conditions. The team created a test bed to mimic the temperature conditions of a working polymer-electrolyte fuel cell that is fed hydrogen and oxygen gases and produces water as a byproduct. "The water management and temperature are critical," said Adam Weber, a staff scientist in the Energy Technologies Area at Berkeley Lab and deputy director for a multi-lab fuel cell research effort, the Fuel Cell Consortium for Performance and Durability ( FC-PAD ).
TO READ THIS ARTICLE, CREATE YOUR ACCOUNT
And extend your reading, free of charge and with no commitment.
