Abstract
A two-dimensional material network model has been developed to visualize the nano-structures of fuel-cell catalysts and to search for effective transport paths for the optimal performance of fuel cells in randomly-disordered composite catalysts. Stochastic random modeling based on the Monte Carlo method is developed using random number generation processes over a catalyst layer domain at a 95% confidence level. After the post-determination process of the effective connectivity, particularly for mass transport, the effective catalyst utilization factors are introduced to determine the extent of catalyst utilization in the fuel cells. The results show that the superficial pore volume fractions of 600 trials approximate a normal distribution curve with a mean of 0.5. In contrast, the estimated volume fraction of effectively inter-connected void clusters ranges from 0.097 to 0.420, which is much smaller than the superficial porosity of 0.5 before the percolation process. Furthermore, the effective catalyst utilization factor is determined to be linearly proportional to the effective porosity. More importantly, this study reveals that the average catalyst utilization is less affected by the variations of the catalyst’s particle size and the absolute catalyst loading at a fixed volume fraction of void spaces.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
M. M. Mench, Fuel Cell Engines (John Wiley & Sons, New Jersey, 2008).
Y. Tabe, M. Nishino, H. Takamatsu and T. Chikahisa, J. Electrochem. Soc. 158, B1246 (2011).
N. P. Siegel, M. W. Ellis, D. J. Nelson and M. R. von Spakovsky, J. Power Sources 115, 81 (2003).
X. L. Curtis Marr, J. Power Sources 77, 17 (1999).
W. Tiedemann and J. Newman, J. Electrochem. Soc. 122, 1482 (1975).
N. Khajeh-Hosseini-Dalasm, M. J. Kermani, D. G. Moghaddam and J. M. Stockie, Int. J. Hydrogen Energ. 35, 2417 (2010).
P. P. Mukherjee, Q. Kang and C. Y. Wang, Energ. Environ. Sci. 4, 346 (2011).
L. Hao and P. Cheng, J. Power Sources 186, 104 (2009).
L. Hao and P. Cheng, J. Power Sources 195, 3870 (2010).
A. S. Joshi, K. N. Grew, A. A. Peracchio and W. K. S. Chiu, J. Power Sources 164, 631 (2007).
A. S. Joshi, A. A. Peracchio, K. N. Grew and W. K. S. Chiu, J. Phys. D: Appl. Phys. 40, 2961 (2007).
G. Wang, P. P. Mukherjee and C. Y. Wang, Electrochim. Acta 51, 3139 (2006).
G. Wang, P. P. Mukherjee and C. Y. Wang, Electrochim. Acta 51, 3151 (2006).
P. P. Mukherjee and C. Y. Wang, J. Electrochem. Soc. 153, A840 (2006).
G. Luo, Y. Ji, C. Y. Wang and P. K. Sinha, Electrochim. Acta 55, 5332 (2010).
P. K. Sinha and C. Y. Wang, Electrochim. Acta 52, 7936 (2007).
J. T. Gostick, M. W. Fowler, M. A. Ioannidis, M. D. Pritzker, Y. M. Volfkovich and A. Sakars, J. Power Sources 156, 375 (2006).
J. T. Gostick, M. A. Ioannidis, M. W. Fowler and M. D. Pritzker, J. Power Sources 173, 277 (2007).
J. T. Gostick, J. Electrochem. Soc. 160, F731 (2013).
A. Bazylak, D. Sinton, Z. S. Liu and N. Djilali, J. Power Sources 163, 784 (2007).
A. Bazylak, V. Berejnov, B. Markicevic, D. Sinton and N. Djilali, Electrochim. Acta 53, 7630 (2008).
B. Markicevic, A. Bazylak and N. Djilali, J. Power Sources 171, 706 (2007).
M. Uchida, Y. Aoyama, N. Eda and A. Ohta, J. Electrochem. Soc. 142, 4143 (1995).
D. Stauffer and A. Aharony, Introduction to percolation theory (Taylor and Francis, London, 1992).
J. M. Hammersley, Math. Proc. Cambridge 53, 642 (1957).
J. M. Hammersley, Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 86, 844 (1960).
J. Hoshen and R. Kopelman, Phys. Rev. B 14, 3438 (1976).
Y. Bachmat and J. Bear, Transport Porous Med. 1, 213 (1986).
Y. Bachmat and J. Bear, Transport Porous Med. 1, 241 (1986).
P. Evesque, Poudres & Grains 11, 6 (2000).
I. M. Gitman, H. Askes and L. J. Sluys, Eng. Fract. Mech. 74, 2518 (2007).
M. Ostoja-Starzewski, J. Appl. Mech. 69, 25 (2002).
M. Eikerling and A. A. Kornyshev, J. Electroanal. Chem. 453, 89 (1998).
A. Wouterse and A. P. Philipse, J. Chem. Phys. 125, 194709 (2006).
D. Zhang, R. Zhang and S. Chen, Geophys. Res. Lett. 27, 1195 (2000).
T. Kanit, S. Forest, I. Galliet, V. Mounoury and D. Jeulin, Int. J. Solids Struct. 40, 3647 (2003).
M. S. Costanza-Robinson, B. D. Estabrook and D. F. Fouhey, Water Resour. Res. 47, W07513 (2011).
J. Li, L. Zhang, Y. Wang and D. Fredlund, Can. Geotech. J. 46, 928 (2009).
H. M. Jung, W. Choi and S. Um, J. Korean Phys. Soc. 56, 591 (2010).
A. W. Drake, Fundamentals of applied probability theory (McGraw Hill, New York, 2007).
D. Mavridis and C. G. G. Aitken, J. Forensic Sci. 54, 135 (2009).
S. L. Weinberg and S. K. Abramowitz, Statistics using spss (Cambridge Univeristy Press, New York, 2008).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shin, S., Kim, AR. & Um, S. Nano-structural analysis of effective transport paths in fuel-cell catalyst layers by using stochastic material network methods. Journal of the Korean Physical Society 68, 533–544 (2016). https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.68.533
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3938/jkps.68.533