Toyota Central R&D Labs., Inc., the Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) and Comprehensive Research Organization for Science and Society (CROSS) have succeeded in clarifying the behavior of water inside large automotive fuel cells. We achieved this breakthrough using the pulsed neutron beam from the RADEN energy-dispersive neutron imaging system at the Materials and Life Science Experimental Facility (MLF) of the Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex (J-PARC) and the synchrotron radiation X-rays from the Toyota Beamline at the SPring-8 synchrotron radiation facility.

These research results were published in the American Chemical Society journal ACS Energy Letters on July 20, 2023. For the full text, please refer to the link above.

Key Research Points

  • A world-first observation technique was employed, integrating a large-area pulsed neutron beam and high-resolution synchrotron radiation X-rays. This technique was utilized to analyze the distribution and movement of water inside large automotive fuel cells.
  • The experiment revealed that the macroscopic distribution of water formed over tens of centimeters along the length of large automotive fuel cells is determined by the microscopic movement of water along the stacking direction within the fuel cell over hundreds of micrometers.
  • This finding is expected to lead to various advancements in fuel cell research and development, such as optimizing control methods and designing and verifying concepts for materials and flow paths.