scholarly journals Ionomer Films Impact on The Structure, Flow Regime, and The Wettability of The Catalyst Layer of PEMFC

2022 ◽  
Vol 334 ◽  
pp. 04019
Author(s):  
Karrar Alofari ◽  
Ezequiel Me´dici ◽  
Kazuya Tajiri ◽  
Jeffrey Allen

Percolation testing and contact angle measurements have been used to investigate the role of relative humidity on structure, mass transport, and wettability of a PEM fuel cell catalyst layer and membrane. Four samples were tested, two catalyst layers and two membranes. Structure and mass transport changes in the catalyst layers resulting from RH changes were studied in terms of percolation pressure. A clear change in the structure between low and high RH conditioning was observed. Relative humidity (RH) cycling also impacted percolation pressures with an indication of catalyst layer cracking. In addition, RH effect on wettability of both catalyst layers and membranes was studied by measuring contact angles of sessile drops.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 5745-5752

Pure titanium (Ti) sheets were subjected to shot peening to achieve grain refinement at the surface. Microstructural studies revealed significant grain refinement at the surface of the Ti sheet after shot peening. The affected thickness of the grain refined region was measured as 150 µm at the cross-section. Due to the fine grain structure, higher hardness was measured for the processed surface. X-ray diffraction studies of the processed sample showed peak broadening for processed Ti due to shot peening. Wettability studies conducted by contact angle measurements clearly showed increased hydrophilicity for the processed Ti as reflected in the lower contact angles. Increased surface energy was calculated for the shot-peened Ti, which can be attributed to the role of the increased fraction of grain boundaries due to microstructure modification. The results demonstrate the potential of the shot peening process to improve the surface wettability and further directly enhance the bioactivity of the Ti implant.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patrick Dutournié ◽  
Ali Said ◽  
T. Jean Daou ◽  
Jacques Bikaï ◽  
Lionel Limousy

Hydraulic permeability measurements are performed on low cut-off Na-mordenite (MOR-type zeolites) membranes after a mild alkaline treatment. A decrease of the hydraulic permeability is systematically observed. Contact angle measurements are carried out (with three polar liquids) on Na-mordenite films seeded onto alumina plates (flat membranes). A decrease of the contact angles is observed after the alkaline treatment for the three liquids. According to the theory of Lifshitz-van der Waals interactions in condensated state, surface modifications are investigated and a variation of the polar component of the material surface tension is observed. After the alkaline treatment, the electron-donor contribution (mainly due to the two remaining lone electron pairs of the oxygen atoms present in the zeolite extra frameworks) decreases and an increase of the electron-receptor contribution is observed and quantified. The contribution of the polar component to the surface tension is attributed to the presence of surface defaults, which increase the surface hydrophilicity. The estimated modifications of the surface interaction energy between the solvent (water) and the Na-mordenite active layer are in good agreement with the decrease of the hydraulic permeability observed after a mild alkaline treatment.


2016 ◽  
Vol 69 (4) ◽  
pp. 431 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ten It Wong ◽  
Hao Wang ◽  
Fuke Wang ◽  
Sau Leng Sin ◽  
Cheng Gen Quan ◽  
...  

In contact angle measurements, direct identification of the contact angles from images taken from a goniometer suffers from errors caused by optical scatterings. Contact angles can be more accurately identified by the height and width of the droplet. Spherical dome is a simple model used to correlate the contact angles to the droplet shape; however, it features intrinsic errors caused by gravity-induced shape deformation. This paper demonstrates a simple method of obtaining an empirical formula, determined from experiments, to correct the gravity-induced error in the spherical dome model for contact angle calculations. A series of contact angles, heights, and surface contact widths are simultaneously collected for a large amount of samples, and the contact angles are also calculated using the spherical dome model. The experimental data are compared with those obtained from the spherical dome model to acquire an empirical formula for contact angles. Compared with the spherical dome model, the empirical formula can reduce the average errors of the contact angle from –16.3 % to 0.18 %. Furthermore, the same method can be used to correct the gravity errors in the spherical dome for the volume (calculated by height and width), height (calculated by contact angle and volume), and width (calculated by contact angle and volume), and the spherical dome errors can be reduced from –20.9 %, 24.6 %, and –4.8 % to 2 %, –0.13 %, and –0.6 %, respectively. Our method is generic and applicable for all kinds of solvent and substrates, and the derived empirical formulae can be directly used for water droplets on any substrate.


2013 ◽  
Vol 634-638 ◽  
pp. 755-758
Author(s):  
Liang Gong ◽  
Zhi Yuan Yang ◽  
Jiang Long

The surfaces of three China coals varying widely in coal type(Baode,Xiangshan,Jincheng) have been modified by adsorption of three surfactants( Sodium dodecyl sulfate,Polyethoxylated fatty alcohols,Alkyl phenol gather oxygen vinyl ether).The impact about coals of the surfactant has been explored by correlating three chemical characterisation techniques.Changes in coal surface hydrophobicity were assessed using contact angle measurements at the coal/water interface.The largest variation in zeta potential resulting from addition of surfactants was seen for the higher rank coals.The Specific surface area decreased when surfactants were present.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Elsharafi ◽  
K. Vidal ◽  
R. Thomas

Contact angle measurements are important to determine surface and interfacial tension between solids and fluids. A ‘water-wet’ condition on the rock face is necessary in order to extract oil. In this research, the objectives are to determine the wettability (water-wet or oil-wet), analyze how different brine concentrations will affect the wettability, and study the effect of the temperature on the dynamic contact angle measurements. This will be carried out by using the Cahn Dynamic Contact Angle. Analyzer DCA 315 to measure the contact angle between different fluids such as surfactant, alkaline, and mineral oil. This instrument is also used to measure the surface properties such as surface tension, contact angle, and interfacial tension of solid and liquid samples by using the Wilhelmy technique. The work used different surfactant and oil mixed with different alkaline concentrations. Varying alkaline concentrations from 20ml to 1ml were used, whilst keeping the surfactant concentration constant at 50ml.. It was observed that contact angle measurements and surface tension increase with increased alkaline concentrations. Therefore, we can deduce that they are directly proportional. We noticed that changing certain values on the software affected our results. It was found that after calculating the density and inputting it into the CAHN software, more accurate readings for the surface tension were obtained. We anticipate that the surfactant and alkaline can change the surface tension of the solid surface. In our research, surfactant is desirable as it maintains a high surface tension even when alkaline percentage is increased.


Author(s):  
Matthew A. Trapuzzano ◽  
Rasim Guldiken ◽  
Andrés Tejada-Martínez ◽  
Nathan B. Crane

Many important processes depend on the wetting of liquids on surfaces. Wetting is commonly controlled through material selection, coatings, and/or surface texture, however these means are sensitive to environmental conditions. Some “hydrophobic” fluoropolymer coatings are sensitive to extended water exposure as evidenced by declining contact angles and increasing contact angle hysteresis. Understanding degradation of these coatings is critical to processes that employ them. To accomplish this, contact angle measurements were taken before, during, and after slides coated with FluoroSyl 3750 or Cytop were submerged in water, or vibrated while covered in water. Both methods demonstrated similar changes in advancing contact angle though vibration increased degradation rates significantly. However, it does not simply accelerate the process as different trends are apparent in receding contact angles. The FluoroSyl 3750 showed no clear degradation under either condition. Surface profilometry did not detect any surface morphology differences that might cause contact angle change.


1977 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 205 ◽  
Author(s):  
IW Wark

A technique used in flotation research for contact angle measurements is recommended for wider use. The effect of one aspect of surface roughness on the relative motion of fluid/solid systems is discussed. The function of the water vapour present in the gas phase adjacent to the line of triple contact is examined. A claim of the Russian school of surface chemists is questioned, namely, that a discrete film of water on the solid surface invariably dominates both hysteresis and contact angle.


2011 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel M. Packwood ◽  
Paula A. Brooksby ◽  
Andrew D. Abell ◽  
Alison J. Downard

Surfaces than can switch their properties in response to external stimuli are of fundamental as well as technological interest. A prerequisite for successful switching in thin surface layers is sufficient free volume in the layer to allow molecular motions or reactions. Multilayer films grafted from aryldiazonium salts have a loosely packed structure and are good candidates for preparation of switchable surfaces. In this work, the pH-dependent wettability of carboxyphenyl films on glassy carbon surfaces is examined using water contact angle measurements. The film structure is manipulated by exposing freshly grafted films to solvents of different polarity; this influences the wettability differences observed between low- and high-pH measurements. The order of measurement of contact angles (from low pH to high, or vice versa) also influences the pH-dependent wettability. The results are consistent with film reorganization, including the formation of dimeric hydrogen-bonded structures, in response to the polarity and pH of the surrounding medium.


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