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Aliyah K, Appel C, Lazaridis T, Prehal C, Ammann M, Xu L, Guizar-Sicairos M, Gubler L, Büchi FN, Eller J. Operando Scanning Small-/Wide-Angle X-ray Scattering for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells: Investigation of Catalyst Layer Saturation and Membrane Hydration- Capabilities and Challenges. ACS APPLIED MATERIALS & INTERFACES 2024; 16:25938-25952. [PMID: 38740377 PMCID: PMC11129111 DOI: 10.1021/acsami.3c11173] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2023] [Revised: 03/12/2024] [Accepted: 03/22/2024] [Indexed: 05/16/2024]
Abstract
Polymer electrolyte fuel cells are an essential technology for future local emission-free mobility. One of the critical challenges for thriving commercialization is water management in the cells. We propose small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering as a suitable diagnostic tool to quantify the liquid saturation in the catalyst layer and determine the hydration of the ion-conducting membrane in real operating conditions. The challenges that may occur in operando data collection are described in detail─separation of the anode and cathode, cell alignment to the beam, X-ray radiation damage, and the possibility of membrane swelling. A synergistic development of experimental setup, data acquisition, and data interpretation circumvents the major challenges and leads to practical and reliable insights.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kinanti Aliyah
- Electrochemistry
Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Christian Appel
- Photon
Science Division, Swiss Light Source, Paul
Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Timon Lazaridis
- Chair
of Technical Electrochemistry, Department of Chemistry and Catalysis
Research Center, Technical University of
Munich, Munich 80333, Germany
| | - Christian Prehal
- Department
of Information Technology and Electrical Engineering, ETH Zurich, CH-8092 Zurich, Switzerland
| | - Martin Ammann
- Electrochemistry
Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Linfeng Xu
- Electrochemistry
Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Manuel Guizar-Sicairos
- Photon
Science Division, Swiss Light Source, Paul
Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen, Switzerland
- Institute
of Physics, École Polytechnique Fédérale
de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne 1015, Switzerland
| | - Lorenz Gubler
- Electrochemistry
Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Felix N. Büchi
- Electrochemistry
Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen, Switzerland
| | - Jens Eller
- Electrochemistry
Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institut, CH-5232, Villigen, Switzerland
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2
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Freychet G, Zhernenkov M. Flatfielding of hybrid pixel detectors in tender x-ray scattering. THE REVIEW OF SCIENTIFIC INSTRUMENTS 2023; 94:2888612. [PMID: 37144942 DOI: 10.1063/5.0139377] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 04/23/2023] [Indexed: 05/06/2023]
Abstract
The ability of the soft matter interfaces beamline at National Synchrotron Light Source II to access x-ray energy in the tender x-ray regime, i.e., from 2.1 to 5 keV, enables new resonant x-ray scattering studies at the sulfur K-edge and others. We present a new approach to correct data acquired in the tender x-ray regime with a Pilatus3 detector in order to improve the data quality and to correct the various artifacts inherent to hybrid pixel detectors, such as variations in modules' efficiency or noisy detector module junctions. This new flatfielding significantly enhances the data quality and enables detection of weak scattering signals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Freychet
- National Synchrotron Light Source-II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA
- Univ. Grenoble Alpes, CEA, Leti, F-38000 Grenoble, France
| | - Mikhail Zhernenkov
- National Synchrotron Light Source-II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, USA
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3
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Affiliation(s)
- Brian A. Collins
- Physics and Astronomy Washington State University Pullman Washington USA
| | - Eliot Gann
- Material Measurement Laboratory National Institute of Standards and Technology Gaithersburg Maryland USA
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4
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Freychet G, Gann E, Thomsen L, Jiao X, McNeill CR. Resonant Tender X-ray Diffraction for Disclosing the Molecular Packing of Paracrystalline Conjugated Polymer Films. J Am Chem Soc 2021; 143:1409-1415. [DOI: 10.1021/jacs.0c10721] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/07/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Guillaume Freychet
- NSLS-II, Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, New York 11973, United States
| | - Eliot Gann
- Materials Measurement Science Division, Materials Measurement Laboratory, National Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, Maryland 20899, United States
| | - Lars Thomsen
- Australian Synchrotron, ANSTO, 800 Blackburn Road, Clayton, VIC 3168, Australia
| | - Xuechen Jiao
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
| | - Christopher R. McNeill
- Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, VIC 3800, Australia
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5
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Su GM, Cordova IA, Wang C. New Insights into Water Treatment Materials with Chemically Sensitive Soft and Tender X-rays. ACTA ACUST UNITED AC 2020. [DOI: 10.1080/08940886.2020.1784695] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Gregory M. Su
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Isvar A. Cordova
- Materials Sciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
| | - Cheng Wang
- Advanced Light Source, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California, USA
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