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HYDRO-LAT 1400 AND HYDRO-LAT 2400 GAS DIFFUSION LAYERS WITH HYDROPHILIC MICROPOROUS LAYER Background Electrochemical technologies have been widely adopted for various commercial applications such as fuel cells, electrolyzers, electrochemical CO2 reduction, and numerous other applications because of their inherent high efficiencies. One of the critical components of such technologies has been the gas diffusion layer (GDL) that is sandwiched between the flow field and the membrane. The main functions of the GDL in an electrochemical cell are: enabling the transfer of reactants..

For PEM fuel cell and electrolyzer applications, a proton exchange membrane is sandwiched between an anode electrode and a cathode electrode. During electrochemical reaction, oxidation reaction at the anode generates protons and electrons; reduction reaction at the cathode combines protons and electrons with oxidants to generate water. To complete the electrochemical reaction, the proton exchange membrane plays a critical role that conducts protons from anode to cathode through the membrane. The proton exchange membrane also performs as a separator for separating anode and cathode reactants..

Gas Diffusion Layers(GDLs) are one of the components in different types of fuel cells including, but not limited, to Proton Exchange Membrane and Direct Methanol fuel cells. Gas Diffusion Layers serve to provide conductivity in the cell and control the contact between the reactant gases and the catalyst.

Carbon Paper Gas Diffusion Layers Carbon Paper Gas Diffusion Layers (GDLs) (e.g. Sigracet, Freudenberg, Toray, etc) tend to be thinner and more brittle than Carbon Cloth Gas Diffusion Layers (e.g. ELAT™, AvCarb , CT Carbon Cloth with MPL, etc.). Each variation has different mass transport, porosity, hydrophobicity and conductivity, among other things. Every manufacturer releases their own technical data sheet, so trying to parse all the information and find like qualities can be quite time-consuming and difficult. We have broken down the information into an easily digestible ..

We've spoken already about Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) selection for a Fuel Cell; today we will cover some GDL considerations for Electrolyzers.

  The Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) plays several critical roles in a typical fuel cell application and is often integrated as part of the Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA). Typical applications that use GDLs consist of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) and Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC). When a GDL is coated with a catalyst it is then referred to as a Gas Diffusion Electrode(GDE), which is sometimes sold or installed separately from the Membrane or MEA. Acting as an electrode is the easy part of the GDL/GDE, though. What Does a Gas Diffusion Layer (GDL) Consist Of..

  Why is an activation procedure or break-in necessary for a membrane electrode assembly (MEA)? A large reason for performing an activation procedure or break-in is to properly humidify the membrane portion of the MEA that was dried out during the hot press stage of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) production. MEAs will not work well when they are not fully humidified (see article: Why is Humidity / Moisture Control Important in a Fuel Cell?). How do I Humidify a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA)? You can re-humidify the MEA by soaking it in deionized water. ..

To properly operate a fuel cell, the proton exchange membranes must stay hydrated. If they are not fully humidified the conductivity decreases and therefore more energy is consumed during the proton transportation phenomenon. If it gets too dry the membrane essentially stops functioning as a proton transporter. Since a hydrogen fuel cell consumes hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity and water, it would seem that there should be plenty of water around. This creates a problem with potentially flooding the catalyst layer if the excess water is not removed via gas flow to drive the water..

There are numerous methods that have been developed for working with ion exchange materials. In this blog post, we will describe a few basic methods commonly used in ion exchange research to help a student or new scientist to work with these materials.

Conventional ion exchange processes use chemical reactants in solution for the ion exchange process. However, ion exchange processes are not just chemically driven, are also electrically driven. An example of an electrically driven ion exchange process is electrodialysis, (also known as electrodeionization), where ionizable species are removed from liquids using electrically active media and the electrical potential as a driving force for ion transport. Electrodeionization can also be used for water treatment, separation of electrolytes from non-electrolytes, concentrating or depletion of i..