Dear Colleagues,
Greetings! All papers included in this week’s digital digest were made open access. Enjoy reading!
Proper pretreatment for anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) – The pretreatment of AEMFCs using a highly alkaline solution is a ubiquitous operation to achieve high-performance in a fuel cell. The role of pretreatment, however, is yet fully understood. Shi et al. reported that the alkaline pretreatment is only necessary when carboxylates are generated from platinum- or palladium-catalyzed oxidation of primary alcohol solvents during the fabrication of membrane electrode assembly (MEA). On the other hand, the bicarbonate pretreatment seems a better option to fulfill the ion exchange without the damage of the cell. (Contact author: Yushan Yan at yanys@udel.edu)
Analysis of an SOFC short stack operating for 10,000 hours. Much research in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) entails the use of button cells. The rarity to find a journal article on the performance and degradation mechanisms of an SOFC stack is largely due to the complexity and uncertainty inherent to analyzing such a stack. Here, Fang et al. reported the analysis of an SOFC short stack operating at a high current density for more than 10,000 hours. They observed that the contact between the cathode and interconnector played a key role on the performance and performance stability of the stack. A homogeneous contact is desirable to minimize the risk of the delamination and formation of hot spots. (Contact author: Qingping Fang at q.fang@fz-juelich.de)
On behalf of the Associate Editors, Professors Ray Gorte, Thomas Schmidt, and Minhua Shao, I would like to thank all authors for their contributions and thank all reviewers for their insightful comments which made the following publications possible.
With best regards,
Xiao-Dong Zhou
Fuel Cells, Electrolyzers, and Energy Conversion Technical Editor
Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Journal of The Electrochemical Society
Editors' Choice—Uncovering the Role of Alkaline Pretreatment for Hydroxide Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells
Lin Shi, Brian P. Setzler, Keda Hu, Catherine M. Weiss, Stephanie Matz, Yanrong Xue, Zhiyuan Xu, Zhongbin Zhuang, Shimshon Gottesfeld, and Yushan Yan
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Degradation Analysis of an SOFC Short Stack Subject to 10,000 h of Operation
Qingping Fang, Ute de Haart, Dominik Schäfer, Florian Thaler, Victor Rangel-Hernandez, Roland Peters, and Ludger Blum
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The Impact of Ink and Spray Variables on Catalyst Layer Properties, Electrolyzer Performance, and Electrolyzer Durability
Shaun M. Alia, Kimberly S. Reeves, Jefferey S. Baxter, and David A. Cullen
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CrN/Cr-Coated Steel Plates for High-Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells: Performance and Durability
Ruiyu Li, Yun Cai, Uwe Reimer, Klaus Wippermann, Zhigang Shao, and Werner Lehnert
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Studying the Interaction of Mass Transport and Electrochemical Reaction Kinetics by Species Frequency Response Analysis
Fabian Kubannek and Ulrike Krewer
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Effects of PEMFC Operational History under Dry/Wet Conditions on Additional Voltage Losses due to Ionomer Migration
Fengmin Du, Tuan Anh Dao, Pia Valentina Josephine Peitl, Andreas Bauer, Kathrin Preuss, Alex Martinez Bonastre, Jonathan Sharman, Geoffrey Spikes, Markus Perchthaler, Thomas J. Schmidt, and Alin Orfanidi
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The Dissolution Dilemma for Low Pt Loading Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Catalysts
Daniel J. S. Sandbeck, Niklas Mørch Secher, Masanori Inaba, Jonathan Quinson, Jakob Ejler Sørensen, Jakob Kibsgaard, Alessandro Zana, Francesco Bizzotto, Florian D. Speck, Michael T. Y. Paul, Alexandra Dworzak, Carsten Dosche, Mehtap Oezaslan, Ib Chorkendorff, Matthias Arenz, and Serhiy Cherevko
Read now | Open access