Prof. Yun Wang
ASME Fellow and RSC Fellow; Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Irvine, CA
Title: Fuel Cell Electrode Engineering through Advanced Physics-based and AI Modeling
Abstract:
Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells can play a
pivotal role in our energy-sustainable society due to their high efficiency (a
peak efficiency as high as 70%), low-temperature (~80 oC) operation,
and low emissions. PEM fuel cell operation involves multiphysics transport and
electrochemical reactions, which are crucial to fuel cell operation. Physics-based and artificial intelligence (AI)
methods have demonstrated significant
efficacy in fuel cell
research and development (R&D) for material innovation, operational optimization, and structure
advancement. In this talk, I will review the main
physics in fuel cells for modeling, including two-phase transport [1], ice
formation [2], heat transfer [3], and electrochemical reaction variation [4];
and explores AI methods to
advance fuel
cell R&D, including artificial neural networks (ANNs), convolutional neural networks (CNNs), generative AI,
support vector machines (SVMs), and genetic algorithms (GAs) [5]. Future R&D directions for next-generation highly effective PEM fuel cells will be outlined.
References:
1. Mishler, J., Wang, Y., Mukundan, R.,
Spendelow, J., Hussey, D. S., Jacobson, D. L., & Borup, R. L. (2012).
Probing the water content in polymer electrolyte fuel cells using neutron
radiography. Electrochimica acta, 75, 1-10.
2. Mishler, J., Wang, Y., Lujan, R.,
Mukundan, R., & Borup, R. L. (2013). An experimental study of polymer
electrolyte fuel cell operation at sub-freezing temperatures. Journal of The
Electrochemical Society, 160(6), F514-F521.
3. Wang,
N., Hu, B., Pang, Y., Qu, Z., & Wang, Y. (2025). Self-humidification
characteristics of steady-state operation and startup for humidifier-free
polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. Energy, 320, 135174.
4. Zhou,
J., Seo, B., Wang, Z., & Wang, Y. (2021). Investigation of a cost-effective
strategy for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells: high power density
operation. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 46(71), 35448-35458.
5. Zhang, G., Qu, Z., Zheng, Q., Zhou, Y., Wang, N.,
& Wang, Y. (2026). Advancing next-generation proton exchange membrane fuel
cell design through multi-physics and AI modeling. Energy & Environmental
Science, 19(1), 126-149.
Biography:
Yun Wang received his B.S.
and M.S. degrees in Mechanics and Engineering Science from Peking University in
1998 and 2001, respectively. He went to the Pennsylvania State University where
he earned his Ph.D degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2006. Dr. Wang joined
the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering department at the University of
California, Irvine in 2006. He has produced over 130 publications in PEM fuel
cell, Li-air battery, and other energy systems, including four books on Fuel
Cell and Thermal Fluid Science. Dr. Wang served as track chair/co-chair,
session chair/co-chair, conference chair and committee member for many
international conferences on fuel cell, electrochemical power devices, and machine
learning. Dr. Wang is currently Professor at the UC Irvine, ASME fellow, RSC
fellow, and associate editor for the journal of heat and mass transfer.