Simulation of Electrolyte Imbibition in Gas Diffusion Electrodes

Abstract

Abstract The performance of the gas diffusion electrode (GDE) is most crucial for technical processes like chlor‐alkali electrolysis. It is responsible to ensure intimate contact between gaseous reactants, catalyst, and electrolyte. The physically based contact line force model is employed to simulate the electrolyte imbibition into solid microstructures using the smoothed particle hydrodynamics method. Simulations are presented to show key aspects like the effect of heterogeneous solid substrates with different wetting behavior. Finally, the imbibition in a real GDE geometry is studied for given flux or pressure inlet conditions.