Guest Speaker: Prof. PAN Zhefei
School of Energy and Power Engineering
Chongqing University
Prof. Zhefei Pan received the B.E. degree (2015) and the M.E. degree (2017) in the School of Energy Science and Engineering from Harbin Institute of Technology, and the Ph.D. degree (2020) in the Department of Mechanical Engineering from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. From 2021 to 2024, he served as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the same group in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is currently a Professor at the School of Energy and Power Engineering, Chongqing University, China. His current research is focused on fuel cells and electrolyzers. He has published more than 70 papers in high-impact journals and top conferences, including Progress in Energy and Combustion Science, Energy & Environmental Science, ACS Energy Letters, and Advanced Functional Materials, etc. As a principal investigator, he has undertaken the National Natural Science Foundation of China for Excellent Young Scientists Fund Program (Overseas), General Program of NSFC, and Task of National Key R&D Program of China.
Abstract
Low-temperature direct liquid fuel cells are attractive energy-conversion technologies because they offer high efficiency, low emissions, and compatibility with portable and distributed energy systems. Among them, direct ammonia fuel cells are especially promising due to the high hydrogen density, mature storage and transportation infrastructure, and low-carbon potential of ammonia. However, their practical deployment is still limited by several coupled transport and interfacial challenges, including water crossover, ammonia crossover through anion exchange membranes, and two-phase flow in porous electrodes and flow channels.
This talk presents recent progress in the design and optimization of low-temperature ammonia-based fuel cells, with a focus on understanding how mass transfer, ion transport, and electron transport jointly determine cell performance. Key advances include hydrophobic-gradient electrode design for enhanced water removal, in-situ characterization and modeling of ammonia crossover, and gradient membrane-electrode assemblies and flow-field architectures for improved gas disengagement and transport uniformity. The results show that ammonia crossover is a dominant factor governing fuel-cell performance, while overall gradient structural design can significantly enhance both power output and operational stability. In addition, emerging concepts such as H2O2-based ammonia fuel cells and ammonium formate fuel cells are highlighted as promising directions for further improving efficiency and broadening the application scope of low-temperature direct liquid fuel cells.
