Refine
Document Type
- Article (reviewed) (5) (remove)
Language
- English (5)
Is part of the Bibliography
- yes (5) (remove)
Keywords
- 2D axi-symmetric (1)
- Applied Electric Field (1)
- Battery (1)
- Button cell (1)
- Cantera (1)
- Capillary Number (1)
- Disjoin Pressure (1)
- Electrical Double Layer (1)
- Elektroosmose (1)
- Intercalation thermodynamics (1)
Institute
- Fakultät Maschinenbau und Verfahrenstechnik (M+V) (5) (remove)
Open Access
- Closed Access (2)
- Closed (1)
- Open Access (1)
In this study the dynamics and stability of thin and electrically conductive aqueous films under the influence of a time-periodic electric field are explored. With the help of analytical linear stability analysis for long wavelength disturbances, the stability threshold of the system as a function of various electrochemical parameters and transport coefficients is presented. The contributions of parameters like surface tension, disjoining pressure, electric double layer (Debye length and interfacial zeta potential), and unsteady Maxwell and viscous stresses are highlighted with the help of appropriate dimensionless groups. The physical mechanisms affecting the stability of thin films are detailed with the above-mentioned forces and parametric dependence of stability trends is discussed.
Modeling and simulation play a key role in analyzing the complex electrochemical behavior of lithium-ion batteries. We present the development of a thermodynamic and kinetic modeling framework for intercalation electrochemistry within the open-source software Cantera. Instead of using equilibrium potentials and single-step Butler-Volmer kinetics, Cantera is based on molar thermodynamic data and mass-action kinetics, providing a physically-based and flexible means for complex reaction pathways. Herein, we introduce a new thermodynamic class for intercalation materials into the open-source software. We discuss the derivation of molar thermodynamic data from experimental half-cell potentials, and provide practical guidelines. We then demonstrate the new class using a single-particle model of a lithium cobalt oxide/graphite lithium-ion cell, implemented in MATLAB. With the present extensions, Cantera provides a platform for the lithium-ion battery modeling community both for consistent thermodynamic and kinetic models and for exchanging the required thermodynamic and kinetic parameters. We provide the full MATLAB code and parameter files as supplementary material to this article.
Instabilities of the interface between two thin liquid films under DC electroosmotic flow are investigated using linear stability analysis followed by an asymptotic analysis in the long-wave limit. The two-liquid system is bounded by two rigid plates which act as substrates. The Boltzmann charge distribution is considered for the two electrolyte solutions and gives rise to a potential distribution in these liquids. The effect of van der Waals interactions in these thin films is incorporated in the momentum equations through the disjoining pressure. Marginal stability and growth rate curves are plotted in order to identify the thresholds for the control parameters when instabilities set in. If the upper liquid is a dielectric, the applied electric field can have stabilizing or destabilizing effects depending on the viscosity ratio due to the competition between viscous and electric forces. For viscosity ratio equal to unity, the stability of the system gets disconnected from the electric parameters like interface zeta potential and electric double-layer thickness. As expected, disjoining pressure has a destabilizing effect, and capillary forces have stabilizing effect. The overall stability trend depends on the complex contest between all the above-mentioned parameters. The present study can be used to tune these parameters according to the stability requirement.
The durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is governed by a nonlinear coupling between system demand, component behavior, and physicochemical degradation mechanisms, occurring on timescales from the sub-second to the thousand-hour. We present a simulation methodology for assessing performance and durability of a PEMFC under automotive driving cycles. The simulation framework consists of (a) a fuel cell car model converting velocity to cell power demand, (b) a 2D multiphysics cell model, (c) a flexible degradation library template that can accommodate physically-based component-wise degradation mechanisms, and (d) a time-upscaling methodology for extrapolating degradation during a representative load cycle to multiple cycles. The computational framework describes three different time scales, (1) sub-second timescale of electrochemistry, (2) minute-timescale of driving cycles, and (3) thousand-hour-timescale of cell ageing. We demonstrate an exemplary PEMFC durability analysis due to membrane degradation under a highly transient loading of the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC).
One of the practical bottlenecks associated with commercialization of lithium-air cells is the choice of an appropriate electrolyte that provides the required combination of cell performance, cyclability and safety. With the help of a two-dimensional multiphysics model, we attempt to narrow down the electrolyte choice by providing insights into the effect of the transport properties of electrolyte, electrode saturation (flooded versus gas diffusion), and electrode thickness on a single discharge performance of a lithium-air button cell cathode for five different electrolytes including water, ionic liquid, carbonate, ether, and sulfoxide. The 2D distribution of local current density and concentrations of electrochemically active species (O2 and Li+) in the cathode is also discussed w.r.t electrode saturation. Furthermore, the efficacy of species transport in the cathode is quantified by introducing two parameters, firstly, a transport efficiency that gives local insight into the distribution of mass transfer losses, and secondly, an active electrode volume that gives global insight into the cathode volume utilization at different current densities. A detailed discussion is presented toward understanding the design-induced performance limitations in a Li-air button cell prototype.