Remaining useful life prediction of PEMFC based on cycle reservoir with jump model

Accurate prognosis of limited durability is one of the key factors for the commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) on a large scale. Thanks to ignoring the structure of the PEMFC and simplifying the prognostic process, the data-driven prognostic approaches was the commonly used for predicting remaining useful life (RUL) at present. In this paper, the proposed cycle reservoir with jump (CRJ) model improves the ESN model, changes the connection mode of neurons in the reservoir and speeds up the linear fitting process. The experiment will verify the performance of CRJ model to predict stacks voltage under static current and quasi-dynamic current conditions. In addition, the reliability of the CRJ model is verified with different amount of data as the training and test sets. The experimental results demonstrate that the CRJ model can achieve better effect in the remaining useful life prognosis of fuel cells.     

离子色谱-电导法检测酱油中氯化钠的含量

该研究采用灰化预处理+离子色谱-电导法检测酱油中食盐的含量，并与莫尔法、电位滴定法进行比较。结果表明，莫尔法存在滴定过量问题，电位滴定法对温度等外界环境条件和仪器操作要求苛刻，而离子色谱-电导法具有操作简便快速并具有较好的准确度和精密度。实验结果表明，氯化钠含量处于11.56～11.61 g/100 mL之间，回收率实验结果为96.00%～102.10%，相对标准偏差为0.089%。干扰实验对结果无明显影响，且能同时测定多种离子，可用于成品酱油中氯化钠含量的检验。     

Iron-doped metal-organic framework with enhanced oxygen evolution reaction activity for overall water splitting

Water electrolysis is an energy conversion technology to provide green and clean hydrogen energy. Developing a high-efficient and durable electrocatalyst is a critical material for water electrolysis. Therefore, we synthesize a series of iron-doped metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) by a facile one-pot hydrothermal method. In the conventional three-electrode-cell, the Co/Fe (1:1)-MOF catalyst exhibits an overpotential of 317 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm⁻² in the oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Furthermore, the electrolysis performance of Co/Fe (1:1)-MOF catalyst is further evaluated in a home-made anion-exchange-membrane water electrolysis cell. With the Co/Fe (1:1)-MOF as the OER catalyst and commercial Pt/C as the hydrogen-evolution-reaction catalyst, the cell presents an overpotential of 490 mV at a large current density of 500 mA cm⁻², which is superior to the benchmark cell with commercial IrO₂ as the OER catalyst in the alkaline media. Theoretical calculation demonstrates that the introduction of Fe dopant into MOFs significantly reduces the binding energy of 1O and 1OOH intermedium during the OER progress. Consequently, the electrocatalytic activity is increased, which is perfectly consistent with the experimental results. This work suggests that the iron-doped MOFs structure significantly improves the electrocatalytic activity and provides a facile strategy to produce hydrogen at a large current density for industrial water electrolysis.     

Operational parameters correlated with the long-term stability of anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers

In this study, we investigated the long-term stability of anion exchange membrane water electrolyzers (AEMWEs) under various bias conditions. The cell performance was relatively stable under conditions of voltage cycling in a narrow range, constant voltage and constant current. On the other hand, a relatively dynamic condition, voltage cycling, in a wide range detrimentally affected the cell stability. Abnormally high negative and positive currents were observed when the cell voltage was switched between 2.1 and 0 V. Impedance results and post-material analyses indicated that the performance degradation was mainly due to anode catalyst detachments, which increased non-ohmic resistance in the wide range voltage cycling. An increase in ohmic resistance was also observed, which was due to the membrane dehydration that occurred in the frequent rest times. Thus, it can be said that the voltage cycling range as well as the frequency of rest times are critical operational parameters in determining the long-term stability of AEMWEs.     

Effect of water distribution in gas diffusion layer on proton exchange membrane fuel cell performance

Water management of proton exchange membrane fuel cells remains a prominent issue in research concerning fuel cells. In this study, the gas diffusion layer (GDL) of a fuel cell is partially treated with a hydrophobic agent, and the effect of GDL hydrophobicity on the water distribution in the fuel cell is examined. First, the effect of the position of the cathode GDL hydrophobic area relative to the channel on the fuel cell performance is investigated. Then, the water distribution in the fuel cell cathode GDL is observed using X-ray imaging. The experimental results indicate that when the hybrid GDL's hydrophobic area lies on the channel, water tends to accumulate under the rib, and the water content in the channel is low; this improves the fuel cell performance. When the hydrophobic area is under the rib, the water distribution is more uniform, but the performance deteriorates.     

Design and synthesis of side-chain optimized poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide)-g-poly(styrene sulfonic acid) as proton exchange membrane for fuel cell applications: Balancing the water-resistance and the sulfonation degree

Side-chain optimized poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide)-g-poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PPO-g-PSSA) is designed with balanced water-resistance and sulfonation degree. The PPO-g-PSSA is synthesized by controlled atom-transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) from brominated poly (2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (PPO-xBr) and ethyl styrene-4-sulfonate and followed by hydrolysis. A series of PPO-g-PSSA are prepared possessing different bromination degree (x) of PPO-xBr and polymerization degree (m) of the side-chains and the water-resistances of the fabricated membranes are investigated. The results show that a PPO-g-PSSA at relatively low x (x < 0.2) and high m (m > 4) exhibits good balance between the water-resistance and the sulfonation degree. Namely, it displays suitable proton conductivity with compromised water-resistance. Moreover, a maximum ion exchange capacity (IEC) of 3.24 mmol g^?1 is reached without the sacrifice of water-resistance. In addition, PPO-g-0.08PSSA-13 and PPO-g-0.14PSSA-4 are chosen characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, proton conductivities and mechanical properties. At 90% RH, the optimized PPO-g-0.08PPSA-13 possesses a proton conductivity of 37.9 mS cm^?1 at 40 °C and 45.5 mS cm^?1 at 95 °C, respectively.     

Parameter identification of proton exchange membrane fuel cell via Levenberg-Marquardt backpropagation algorithm

It is essential to develop an accurate model of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) for a reliable operation and analysis, in which unknown parameters usually need to be determined. The inherent nonlinear, strong coupling, and diversification of PEMFC model seriously hinder traditional methods to identify the parameters. For the sake of overcoming these thorny obstacles, Levenberg-Marquardt backpropagation (LMBP) algorithm based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) is proposed for PEMFC parameter identification. Furthermore, the performance of LMBP is thoroughly evaluated and compared with four typical meta-heuristic algorithms under three cases. Simulation results indicate that LMBP performs a higher accuracy and faster speed for parameter identification. In particular, accuracy and convergence speed can achieve as much as 99.8% and 95.9% growth via LMBP, respectively.     

Towards performance improved anion exchange membrane: Cross-linking with multi-cations oligomer modified graphene oxide

Cross-linking structure has been proven to be an effective approach to address the balance issue between ionic conductivity, dimensional stability and other properties of anion exchange membranes (AEMs). Here, a novel multi-cationic oligomer was synthesized from 1,4-diazabicyclo [2,2,2]octane and 1,6-dibromohexane, and subsequently used to prepare multi-cationic oligomer brushes-decorated graphene oxide (QBGO). The obtained QBGO was employed as the cross-linker to form cross-linked poly (arylene ether sulfone) (QPAES) AEMs by end-cap tertiary amine coupling reaction. Benefiting from the introduction of the multi-cations and flexible long-chain cross-linker structure, the cross-linked QPAES/QBGO membranes formed hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase-separation microstructures and well-defined ionic channels which are responsible for water uptake and ion transfer. As a result, the cross-linked QPAES/QBGO-2.0 membrane exhibited 1.90-fold higher ionic conductivity and better chemical stability than the control QPAES membrane. The QPAES/QBGO-2.0 membrane displayed a higher power density of 75.7 mW cm^?2 than that of the control QPAES membrane (53.1 mW cm^?2) in a H₂/O₂ fuel cell test. In a word, we propose that this novel design strategy holds broad prospects for the design of new polymer electrolyte membrane materials.     

Li0.95Na0.05MnPO4/C nanoparticles compounded with reduced graphene oxide sheets for superior lithium ion battery cathode performance

Sodium-substituted LiMnPO₄/C/reduced graphene oxide (LNMP@rGO) was synthesized in this study via freeze drying and carbon thermal reduction method with graphene oxide as carbon source. Sodium ion doping is optimized and rGO effects are evaluated by XRD, SEM, TEM, BET, Raman, and electrochemical performance measurements. Well-distributed nanoparticles with average size of ~50?nm are evenly distributed on the surface or intercalation between rGO layers, resulting in a porous ion/electronic conductive network. Compared to 122.3?mA?h?g^?1 in unmodified LNMP, the best LNMP@rGO (20?mg rGO) exhibits an excellent initial discharge capacity of 150.4?mA?h?g^?1 at 0.05?C at 122.9% of the initial capacity. The capacity retention rate is 95.8% of the initial capacity after 100 cycles at 1?C. Capacity of 101.2?mA?h?g^?1 is preserved even at rates as high as 10?C.     

Simple solution-combustion synthesis of Fe2TiO5 nanomaterials with enhanced lithium storage properties

The porous Fe₂TiO₅ particles are successfully synthesized through a facile one step solution combustion method. The Fe₂TiO₅ negative materials exhibit remarkable electrochemical performance with discharge capacities of 371.4?mAh g^?1 at the 100 th cycle, and display promising rate stability with discharge capacities 76.6?mAh·g^?1 at a high current density of 3.2?A?g^?1. In addition, the mechanism of electrochemistry reaction is illustrated by the CV, raman and EIS measurements, the irreversible capacity mainly causes from the irreversible lithium insertion at 1.8?V. The results indicate that the one step solution combustion synthesis of porous Fe₂TiO₅ is a promising strategy for developing low-cost and high-performance Ti-based negative materials.