Penetrated layers under dynamic

Quantitative information on penetrated layers under dynamic and equilibrium conditions require much attention in respect to the experimental technique. There are a number of penetration experiments with different advantages and drawbacks. The classical experiment is the injection technique where a soluble component is injected into the subphase below a spread monolayer. Experiments can then be performed at constant monolayer coverage [212, 213, 214] or by compression and expansion cycles [215, 216]. Another possibility is to exchange the subphase below a spread monolayer using a laminar pumping system. Other experiments were performed by using the sweeping technique as described in [217, 218]. 

Another field of application of the drop and bubble shape techniques is in studying the penetration of soluble surface-active molecules into spread insoluble monolayers. In general, the obtaining of quantitative information on penetrated layers under dynamic and equilibrium conditions requires much attention... 

The transient response of DMFC is inherently slower and consequently the performance is worse than that of the hydrogen fuel cell, since the electrochemical oxidation kinetics of methanol are inherently slower due to intermediates formed during methanol oxidation [3]. Since the methanol solution should penetrate a diffusion layer toward the anode catalyst layer for oxidation, it is inevitable for the DMFC to experience the hi mass transport resistance. The carbon dioxide produced as the result of the oxidation reaction of methanol could also partly block the narrow flow path to be more difScult for the methanol to diflhise toward the catalyst. All these resistances and limitations can alter the cell characteristics and the power output when the cell is operated under variable load conditions. Especially when the DMFC stack is considered, the fluid dynamics inside the fuel cell stack is more complicated and so the transient stack performance could be more dependent of the variable load conditions. 

The evolution of the dimensionless density profile across the soot layer is shown in Fig. 23. The initial gradual replenishment of the soot in the catalytic layer (at t = 140 s) is followed by sudden penetration events (t — 262 and 326 s) before the establishment of a steady state profile (at =531 and 778 s). Regarding the non-catalytic (thermal) layer only a gradual reduction of its thickness, accompanied by a very small reduction of its uniform density is observed. This simple microstructural model exhibits a rich dynamic behavior, however we have also established an experimental program to study the soot cake microstructure under reactive conditions. 

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