Search Results

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Item
    A continuum model for yttria-stabilized zirconia incorporating triple phase boundary, lattice structure and immobile oxide ions
    (Berlin ; Heidelberg ; New York : Springer, 2019) Vágner, Petr; Guhlke, Clemens; Miloš, Vojtěch; Müller, Rüdiger; Fuhrmann, Jürgen
    A continuum model for yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) in the framework of non-equilibrium thermodynamics is developed. Particular attention is given to (i) modeling of the YSZ-metal-gas triple phase boundary, (ii) incorporation of the lattice structure and immobile oxide ions within the free energy model and (iii) surface reactions. A finite volume discretization method based on modified Scharfetter-Gummel fluxes is derived in order to perform numerical simulations. The model is used to study the impact of yttria and immobile oxide ions on the structure of the charged boundary layer and the double layer capacitance. Cyclic voltammograms of an air-half cell are simulated to study the effect of parameter variations on surface reactions, adsorption and anion diffusion. © 2019, The Author(s).
  • Item
    The role of reactive reaction intermediates in two-step heterogeneous electro-catalytic reactions: a model study
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2010) Fuhrmann, Jürgen; Zhao, H.; Langmach, H.; Seidel, Y.E.; Jusys, Z.; Behm, R.J.
    Experimental investigations of heterogeneous electrocatalytic reactions have been performed in flow cells which provide an environment with controlled parameters. Measurements of the oxygen reduction reaction in a flow cell with an electrode consisting of an array of Pt nanodisks on a glassy carbon substrate exhibited a decreasing fraction of the intermediate $H_2O_2$ in the overall reaction products with increasing density of the nanodiscs. A similar result is true for the dependence on the catalyst loading in the case of a supported Pt/C catalyst thin-film electrode, where the fraction of the intermediate decreases with increasing catalyst loading. Similar effects have been detected for the methanol oxidation. We present a model of multistep heterogeneous electrocatalytic oxidation and reduction reactions based on an adsorption-reaction-desorption scheme using the Langmuir assumption and macroscopic transport equations. A continuum based model problem in a vertical cross section of a rectangular flow cell is proposed in order to explain basic principles of the experimental situation. It includes three model species A, B, C, which undergo adsorption and desorption at a catalyst surface, as well as adsorbate reactions from A to B to C. These surface reactions are coupled with diffusion and advection in the Hagen Poiseuille flow in the flow chamber of the cell. Both high velocity asymptotic theory and a finite volume numerical are used to obtain approximate solutions to the model. Both approaches show a behaviour similar to the experimentally observed. Working in more general situations, the finite volume scheme was applied to a catalyst layer consisting of a number of small catalytically active areas corresponding to nanodisks. Good qualitative agreement with the experimental findings was established for this case as well.
  • Item
    Computational and analytical comparison of flux discretizations for the semiconductor device equations beyond Boltzmann statistics
    (Berlin : Weierstraß-Institut für Angewandte Analysis und Stochastik, 2016) Farrell, Patricio; Koprucki, Thomas; Fuhrmann, Jürgen
    For a Voronoi finite volume discretization of the van Roosbroeck system with general charge carrier statistics we compare three thermodynamically consistent numerical fluxes known in the literature. We discuss an extension of the Scharfetter-Gummel scheme to non-Boltzmann (e.g. Fermi-Dirac) statistics. It is based on the analytical solution of a two-point boundary value problem obtained by projecting the continuous differential equation onto the interval between neighboring collocation points. Hence, it serves as a reference flux. The exact solution of the boundary value problem can be approximated by computationally cheaper fluxes which modify certain physical quantities. One alternative scheme averages the nonlinear diffusion (caused by the non-Boltzmann nature of the problem), another one modifies the effective density of states. To study the differences between these three schemes, we analyze the Taylor expansions, derive an error estimate, visualize the flux error and show how the schemes perform for a carefully designed p-i-n benchmark simulation. We present strong evidence that the flux discretization based on averaging the nonlinear diffusion has an edge over the scheme based on modifying the effective density of states.