Polymer electrolyte fuel cells: physical principles of materials and operation

The book provides a systematic and profound account of scientific challenges in fuel cell research. The introductory chapters bring readers up to date on the urgency and implications of the global energy challenge, the prospects of electrochemical energy conversion technologies, and the thermodynamic and electrochemical principles underlying the operation of polymer electrolyte fuel cells. The book then presents the scientific challenges in fuel cell research as a systematic account of distinct components, length scales, physicochemical processes, and scientific disciplines.

The main part of the book focuses on theory and modeling. Theoretical tools and approaches, applied to fuel cell research, are presented in a self-contained manner. Chapters are arranged by different fuel cell materials and components, and sections advance through the hierarchy of scales, starting from molecular-level processes in proton-conducting media or electrocatalytic systems and ending with performance issues at the device level, including electrochemical performance, water management, durability, and analysis of failure mechanisms.

Throughout, the book gives numerous examples of formidable scientific challenges as well as of tools to facilitate materials design and development of diagnostic methods. It reveals reserves for performance improvements and uncovers misapprehensions in scientific understanding that have misled or may continue to mislead technological development. An indispensable resource for scientifically minded and practically oriented researchers, this book helps industry leaders to appreciate the contributions of fundamental research, and leaders of fundamental research to appreciate the needs of industry.