Fuel Cells and Electrolyzers: On the Challenge of Porous Materials Characterization

The development of PEM-fuel cells and electrolyzers is critically depending on the structures and properties of the porous materials contained. From accurate knowledge of their structural (transport) characteristics to the complex problems of two phase-flows under operando conditions, specialized diagnostic methods are required to gain knowhow for the optimization of the devices.

Over the past 20 years, X-ray tomographic microscopy has been developed as a key method with wide availability to learn about the behavior of porous structures, their transport propertiers and the characteristics of the flows therein. The talk will review the basics, advantages and disadvantages of the method and show applications for few challenging cases, considering porous materials structures and water management in fuel cells and electrolyzers.

BIO.:
Felix graduated 1989 in Electrochemistry from the University of Berne (Switzerland). He spent his PostDoc with Alan Bond at Deakin University in Australia, performing research on electro-active proteins.

In 1991 he joined the Electrochemistry Laboratory at PSI, as staff scientist. During this time, he spent a year at Texas A&M University to work with Supramaniam Srinivasan on PEM fuel cells characterization and scale-up.

In 2002 he could start his own group at PSI “Fuel Cell Systems and Diagnostics”. The group specialized in operando characterization of PEM fuel cells and electrolyzers, with focus on the porous materials. Aiming to understand the complex structures and, optimizing them for improved mass, energy and charge transports to reduce cost and improve efficiency and power density.
Among the technologies developed were local current density analysis on several scales, operando gas analysis and most importantly operando X-ray tomographic microscopy, a core technique for the optimization of porous materials.

During these years a number of application type fuel cell systems were developed and demonstrated in several cars and for energy storage.

As from 2018 he also lead the Electrochemistry Laboratory, a unit with about 50 researchers.

In 2024 he retired from PSI.