Hydrophilic Treatment Methods for Porous Transport Layers on Bubble Management and Electrolysis Performance in Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer.
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| Title: | Hydrophilic Treatment Methods for Porous Transport Layers on Bubble Management and Electrolysis Performance in Proton Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer. |
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| Authors: | Bao, Xuezhi1 (AUTHOR), Huang, Bo1,2 (AUTHOR) shxu16@sues.edu.cn, Wang, Ziqing2,3 (AUTHOR), Zhao, Luhaibo3,4 (AUTHOR) wanggl@sari.ac.cn, Wu, Haibo1,4 (AUTHOR), Xu, Shen1,2 (AUTHOR), Wang, Guoliang3 (AUTHOR), Tang, Zhiyong3,4 (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Energies (19961073). May2026, Vol. 19 Issue 9, p2107. 18p. |
| Subject Terms: | *Hydrophilic surfaces, *Bubble dynamics, *Titanium, *Electrolysis, *Porous materials, *Ion-permeable membranes, *Overpotential |
| Abstract: | The hydrophilicity of the porous transport layer (PTL) critically influences the mass transport overpotential and overall efficiency of a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE). In this study, titanium felts with three distinct levels of hydrophilicity are systematically characterized and evaluated electrochemically. A novel bilayer gradient hydrophilic titanium felt structure is designed, resulting in notable performance improvements: the average cell voltage decreases by 12.92%, and the overpotential is reduced by 9.94–18.03% across a current density range of 0.1–1.6 A·cm−2. High-speed imaging reveals that the gradient hydrophilic structure effectively regulates bubble dynamics, nearly eliminating annular flow bubbles, reducing the proportion of slug flow bubbles by 40.78%, decreasing the bubble detachment diameter by 28.26%, and enhancing bubble displacement by 51.03% compared to that of untreated titanium felt. These results demonstrate that gradient hydrophilic structures can significantly enhance PEMWE performance, offering a promising strategy and a theoretical foundation for optimizing mass transfer in electrolytic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Database: | Energy & Power Source |
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| Abstract: | The hydrophilicity of the porous transport layer (PTL) critically influences the mass transport overpotential and overall efficiency of a proton exchange membrane water electrolyzer (PEMWE). In this study, titanium felts with three distinct levels of hydrophilicity are systematically characterized and evaluated electrochemically. A novel bilayer gradient hydrophilic titanium felt structure is designed, resulting in notable performance improvements: the average cell voltage decreases by 12.92%, and the overpotential is reduced by 9.94–18.03% across a current density range of 0.1–1.6 A·cm−2. High-speed imaging reveals that the gradient hydrophilic structure effectively regulates bubble dynamics, nearly eliminating annular flow bubbles, reducing the proportion of slug flow bubbles by 40.78%, decreasing the bubble detachment diameter by 28.26%, and enhancing bubble displacement by 51.03% compared to that of untreated titanium felt. These results demonstrate that gradient hydrophilic structures can significantly enhance PEMWE performance, offering a promising strategy and a theoretical foundation for optimizing mass transfer in electrolytic systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 19961073 |
| DOI: | 10.3390/en19092107 |
