In recent years, Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) have attracted much attention due to their potential as a clean power source for many applications, including automotive, portable and stationary devices. This resulted in a tremendous technological progress, such as the development of new membranes and electro-catalysts or the improvement of electrode structures. However, in order to compete within the most attractive markets, the PEMFC technologies did not reach all the required characteristics yet, in particular in terms of cost and durability.Because of the strong coupling between different physicochemical phenomena, the interpretation of experimental observations is difficult, and analysis through modeling becomes crucial to elucidate the degradation and failure mechanisms, andto help improving both PEMFC electrochemical performance and durability.The development of a theoretical tool is essential for industrials and the scientific community to evaluate the PEMFC degradation and to predict itsperformance and durability in function of the materials properties and in a diversity of operating conditions. This manuscript summarizes my scientific research efforts in this exciting topic during the last 9 years in France, including my invention of the MEMEPhys multiscale simulation package,developed on the basis of my childhood passion for the New Technologies for Energyin Argentina. My perspectives of adapting this approach to other electrochemical systems such as water electrolyzers and batteries are also discussed.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:CCSD/oai:tel.archives-ouvertes.fr:tel-00740967 |
| Date | 23 September 2010 |
| Creators | Franco, Alejandro A. |
| Publisher | Université Claude Bernard - Lyon I |
| Source Sets | CCSD theses-EN-ligne, France |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | habilitation à ¤iriger des recherches |
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