This sequence shows how the water volume in the functional layers (green) develops over time during the start-up of the fuel cell. The water increases until a state of equilibrium between water accumulation and degradation is reached. Credit: HZB
Teams from Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB) and University College London (UCL) have visualized the water distribution in a fuel cell in three dimensions and in real time for the first time by evaluating neutron data from the Berlin Experimental Reactor shut down in 2019. The analysis opens new possibilities for more efficient and thus more cost-effective fuel cells.
“In a fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen are combined to…