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VERSION:2.0
PRODID:icalendar-ruby
CALSCALE:GREGORIAN
X-WR-CALNAME:Realizing Hydrogen Economy and Rethinking Catalyst Layer Desig
 n: Interplay between Activity and Durability for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel 
 Cells and Electrolyzers
X-WR-TIMEZONE:Eastern Time (US & Canada)
BEGIN:VEVENT
DTSTAMP:20260812T084904Z
UID:tag:localist.com\,2008:EventInstance_42702538058957
DTSTART:20230331T160000Z
DTEND:20230331T170000Z
DESCRIPTION:The U.S. has pledged to decarbonize its economy by 2050. Decarb
 onization of transportation sector is critical to achieve net-zero emissio
 ns economy by 2050. Department of Energy (DOE) has issued Hydrogen Shot ai
 ming to produce 1 kg of hydrogen for $1 in 1 decade. This ‘111’ target
  is ambitious\, as currently challenges of electrolyzers cost\, durability
  and scale-up to MW scale need to be addressed. Proton exchange membrane w
 ater electrolyzers (PEMWEs) are promising technologies to reach these targ
 ets. The widespread deployment of these technologies is stifled today by h
 igh catalyst cost\, high catalyst loadings and material properties that af
 fect the complex two-phase transport processes consequently resulting in l
 ower voltage efficiency. The anode catalyst for oxygen evolution reaction 
 (OER) that is used in PEMWEs is IrOx\, which precious metal catalyst that 
 is not Earth abundant and expensive. \n\nOnce produced\, hydrogen will be 
 utilized in various industries\, including manufacturing and it can serve 
 as a fuel for various applications\, including polymer electrolyte fuel ce
 ll (PEFCs). These technologies have advanced to reach the commercializatio
 n stage with more automotive manufacturers announcing new PEFC-based light
  and heavy-duty vehicles. The main advantage of the PEFCs is that they hav
 e zero emissions and produce only water. Using the DOE cost-breakdown for 
 the 80-kWnet stack for light-duty vehicles\, the cost of precious metal el
 ectrocatalysts remains almost unchanged as production rate increases to 0.
 5 M PEFC stacks per year. The cost of the electrocatalysts amounts to 31% 
 of stack cost\, for 0.5 M systems per year production rate. Platinum (Pt) 
 or Pt-alloys are used as electrocatalysts for the oxygen reduction reactio
 n (ORR) on the cathode side and the hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) on t
 he anode side of PEFCs. Pt or Pt-alloy electrocatalysts are dispersed as n
 anoparticles onto a carbon-black support. DOE set a target of reducing Pt 
 loading to 0.125 mg cm-2 to achieve the goal of $12.6 kWnet-1 for a stack 
 with power density target of 1.8 W cm-2. \n\nThis presentation will summar
 ize my group’s recent efforts within the two main directions for the cat
 alyst layer design for electrolyzers and fuel cells: 1) catalyst durabilit
 y studies\, via advanced characterization\, 2) catalyst-ionomer interfaces
  understanding during the device lifetime and its impact on activity and d
 urability. Using methodology of electrochemical characterization\, includi
 ng CO-displacement/stripping\, double layer capacity studies\, oxygen tran
 sport resistance measurements\, and others\, along with the computational 
 modeling and advanced material characterization (synchrotron and lab-scale
 )\, we aim to build comprehensive understanding of transport properties\, 
 water and oxygen management and interfacial properties during the PEFCs’
  and PEMWE’s lifetime.
GEO:42.3783;-71.117081
LOCATION:Pierce Hall\, 209
SUMMARY:Realizing Hydrogen Economy and Rethinking Catalyst Layer Design: In
 terplay between Activity and Durability for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells
  and Electrolyzers
URL;VALUE=URI:https://events.seas.harvard.edu/event/realizing_hydrogen_econ
 omy_and_rethinking_catalyst_layer_design_interplay_between_activity_and_du
 rability_for_polymer_electrolyte_fuel_cells_and_electrolyzers
CATEGORIES:Colloquia / Seminar / Lecture
END:VEVENT
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