Analysis of surface and interior degradation of gas diffusion layer with accelerated stress tests for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

The effects of surface and interior degradation of the gas diffusion layer (GDL) on the performance and durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have been investigated using three freeze-thaw accelerated stress tests (ASTs). Three ASTs (ex-situ, in-situ, and new methods) are designed from freezing ?30 °C to thawing 80 °C by immersing, supplying, and bubbling, respectively. The ex-situ method is designed for surface degradation of the GDL. Change of surface morphology from hydrophobic to hydrophilic by surface degradation of GDL causes low capillary pressure which decreased PEMFC performance. The in-situ method is designed for the interior degradation of the GDL. A decrease in the ratio of the porosity to tortuosity by interior degradation of the GDL deteriorates PEMFC performance. Moreover, the new method showed combined effects for both surface and interior degradation of the GDL. It was identified that the main factor that deteriorated the fuel cell performance was the increase in mass transport resistance by interior degradation of GDL. In conclusion, this study aims to investigate the causes of degraded GDL on the PEMFC performance into the surface and interior degradation and provide the design guideline of high-durability GDL for the PEMFC.     

Effects of the film thickness and poling electric field on photovoltaic performances of (Pb,La)(Zr,Ti)O3 ferroelectric thin film-based devices

The ferroelectric photovoltaic (FPV) effect obtained in inorganic perovskite ferroelectric materials has received much attention because of its large potential in preparing FPV devices with superior stability, high open-circuit voltage (V_oc) and large short-circuit current density (J_sc). In order to obtain suitable thickness for the ferroelectric thin film as light absorption layer, in which, the sunlight can be fully absorbed and the photo-generated electrons and holes are recombined as few as possible, we prepare Pb_0.93La_0.07(Zr_0.6Ti_0.4)_0.9825O₃ (PLZT) ferroelectric thin films with different layer numbers by the sol-gel method and based on these thin films, obtain FPV devices with FTO/PLZT/Au structure. By measuring photovoltaic properties, it is found that the device with 4 layer-PLZT thin film (~300 nm thickness) exhibits the largest V_oc and J_sc and the photovoltaic effect obviously depends on the value and direction of the poling electric field. When the device is applied a negative poling electric field, both the V_oc and J_sc are significantly higher than those of the device applied the positive poling electric field, due to the depolarization field resulting from the remnant polarization in the same direction with the built-in electric field induced by the Schottky barrier, and the higher the negative poling electric field, the larger the V_oc and J_sc. At a -333 kV/cm poling electric field, the FPV device exhibits the most superior photovoltaic properties with a V_oc of as high as 0.73 V and J_sc of as large as 2.11 μA/cm². This work opens a new way for developing ferroelectric photovoltaic devices with good properties.     

Stochastic free vibration analyses of composite shallow doubly curved shells – A Kriging model approach

This paper presents the Kriging model approach for stochastic free vibration analysis of composite shallow doubly curved shells. The finite element formulation is carried out considering rotary inertia and transverse shear deformation based on Mindlin’s theory. The stochastic natural frequencies are expressed in terms of Kriging surrogate models. The influence of random variation of different input parameters on the output natural frequencies is addressed. The sampling size and computational cost is reduced by employing the present method compared to direct Monte Carlo simulation. The convergence studies and error analysis are carried out to ensure the accuracy of present approach. The stochastic mode shapes and frequency response function are also depicted for a typical laminate configuration. Statistical analysis is presented to illustrate the results using Kriging model and its performance.     

Characteristics and formation mechanism of porosities in CFRP during laser joining of CFRP and steel

An experimental investigation on the mechanism of porosity formation during the laser joining of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) and steel is presented. The porosity morphology and distribution were characterized by optical and scanning electron microscopy, and the thermal pyrolysis behaviors were investigated by thermal analysis and designed back-side cooling experiments. The results show that there are two types of porosities in CFRP. Porosity I only appears when the heat input is more than 77.8 J/mm. It has a smooth inner wall and distributes near the bonding interface between CFRP and steel at the central area of melted zone, which is caused by gaseous products such as CO₂, NH₃, H₂O, and hydrocarbons produced by the pyrolysis of CFRP. Porosity II can be seen under all joining conditions. It has a rough inner wall and distributes far away from the bonding interface, concentrating at the final solidification locations. Porosity II is caused by the shrinkage of melted CFRP during solidification stage.     

Hydrocarbon-based electrode ionomer for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

The electrode ionomer is a key factor that significantly affects the catalyst layer morphology and fuel cell performance. Herein, sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)-based electrode ionomers with polymers of various molecular weights and alcohol/water mixtures were prepared, and those comprising the alcohol/water mixture showed a higher performance than the ones prepared using higher boiling solvents, such as dimethylacetamide; this is owing to the formation of the uniformly dispersed ionomer catalyst layer. The relation between ionomer molecular weight for the same polymer structure and the sulfonation degree was investigated. Because the chain length of polymer varies with molecular weight and chain entanglement degree, its molecular weight affects the electrode morphology. As the ionomer covered the catalyst, the agglomerates formed were of different morphologies according to their molecular weight, which could be deduced indirectly through dynamic light scattering and scanning electron microscopy. Additionally, the fuel cell performance was confirmed in the current-voltage curve.     

Mechanical damage characterization of glass fiber-reinforced polymer laminates by ultrasonic maps

A method for simultaneous measurement of the thickness and density for Glass Fiber-Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) laminate plates with ultrasonic waves in C-Scan mode is presented in the form of maps. The method uses three different signals in immersion pulse-echo C-Scan mode. The maps obtained based on the density show the heterogeneity of the material at high resolution at the pixel level (1 × 1 mm²) and therefore they represent an efficient tool to assess and evaluate the damage of the composite structures after manufacturing and after an applied mechanical loading.     

Developing novel liquid crystal technologies for display and photonic applications

Modern liquid crystal displays (LCDs) require novel technologies, such as new alignment methods to eliminate alignment layers, fast response and long operation time. To this end, we report an overview of recent efforts in LCD technologies devoted to realize more display modes having no alignment layer, faster switching time and low battery consumption. In particular, we overview recent advances on the liquid crystals (LCs) alignment for display applications, which includes superfine nanostructures, polymeric microchannels and polymer stabilized LCs. Furthermore, we analyze the main optical and electro-optical properties of new generation LCDs displays addressing a particular attention to LCs blue phase hosting gold nanoparticles. Moreover, we focus on the progress of electrofluidic displays, which demonstrates characteristics that are similar to LCDs, with attention on various pixel designs, operation principles and possible future trends of the technology.     

Hetero-assembly of colloidal particles in concentrated non-aqueous suspensions by polymer dispersant design

Although many colloidal assembling systems have been reported, most systems suffer from severe aggregation under high solid concentrations, which can often be observed in typical hetero-aggregation system. In this study, we created a hetero-assembly system using concentrated (~50 vol%) suspensions by mixing large SiO₂ particles modified with polyacrylic acid partially complexed with oleylamine (PAA-OAm) and small SiO₂ particles modified with polyethyleneimine partially complexed with oleic acid (PEI-OA) in a non-aqueous solvent. We demonstrated that hetero-assembly is driven by the interactions between the uncomplexed carboxyl/amine groups of the PAA/PEI present on the particles, while severe aggregation is simultaneously prevented by the steric repulsions of the aliphatic oleyl chains. Comparison of the cross sections of the in-situ solidified hetero-assembled suspensions with those of ideally assembled structures which were reproduced by a simulation considering the statistical distribution of particles strongly supported successful particle assembling via the proposed approach. The results revealed that the OA content in the PEI-OA complex was the dominant factor that controlled the dispersion and assembling state of the binary particles. The significance of this study is that our findings will provide a class of colloidal dispersion state which binary particles were assembled in a high solid content suspension without forming strong aggregates.     

Effects of interphase on tensile strength of polymer/CNT nanocomposites by Kelly–Tyson theory

The micromechanics models for composites usually underpredict the tensile strength of polymer nanocomposites. This paper establishes a simple model based on Kelly–Tyson theory for tensile strength of polymer/CNT nanocomposites assuming the effect of interphase between polymer and CNT. In addition, Pukanszky model is joined with the suggested model to calculate the interfacial shear strength (τ), interphase strength (σ_i) and critical length of CNT (L_c).The proposed approach is applied to calculate τ, σ_i and L_c for various samples from recent literature. It is revealed that the experimental data are well fitted to calculations by new model which confirm the important effect of interphase on the properties of nanocomposites. Moreover, the derived equations demonstrate that dissimilar correlations are found between τ and B (from Pukanszky model) as well as L_c and B. It is shown that a large B value obtained by strong interfacial adhesion between polymer and CNT is adequate to reduce L_c in polymer/CNT nanocomposites.     

Polyetherimide-LaNi5 composite films for hydrogen storage applications

This study investigates the preparation of polyetherimide (PEI) – LaNi₅ composites films for hydrogen storage. Prior to the polymer addition, LaNi₅ was ball-milled at different conditions (250, 350, and 450 RPM) and annealed at 500 °C for 1 h under vacuum. The composites were produced with BM-LaNi₅-350 (PEI/LaNi₅-350) and annealed BM-LaNi₅-350 (PEI/LaNi₅-350-TT). Membranes were successfully produced through solvent casting assisted by an ultrasonic bath. The particles dispersion and the film morphology did not change after hydrogenation cycles. In the H₂ sorption experiments at 43 °C and 20 bar, the films stored H₂ without incubation time; both samples reached a capacity of ~0.6 wt%. The H₂ sorption kinetics of PEI/LaNi₅-350 was comparable to that of BM-LaNi₅-350, whereas PEI/LaNi₅-350-TT presented significantly slower kinetics. LaNi₅ oxidation was hindered by PEI, showing that it can be explored to improve metal hydrides air resistance. The results demonstrated that PEI films filled with LaNi₅ are promising materials for hydrogen storage.