To mitigate the impacts of anthropogenic climate change, clean energy storage solutions such as hydrogen produced via polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) are critically required. However, the porous transport layer (PTL) in current PEMWE systems lacks optimization of through‐plane and in‐plane transport properties. In this work, a PTL design with integrated channels (IC‐PTL) to improve the PTL/flow channel interface and provide additional pathways for in‐plane flow is proposed. As current density increases, the IC‐PTL reduces mass transport overpotentials by up to 71.4% compared to the baseline PTL (B‐PTL) assembly due to shorter mass transport pathways. Moreover, the IC‐PTL lowers ohmic overpotentials at high current densities by up to 42.8% due to improved interfacial contact and enhanced membrane hydration. Membrane hydration is further quantified via X‐ray synchrotron radiography analysis of changes in membrane thickness and X‐ray transmission through the membrane, revealing that the IC‐PTL assembly displays a consistently thicker membrane and recovers from thinning faster than the B‐PTL assembly. Furthermore, membrane hydration is impacted more at the catalyst layer interfaces than in the center of the membrane. As such, the addition of in‐plane transport pathways to next‐generation PTL designs to improve membrane hydration and mass transport is recommended.

In this study, soft magnetic metal was coated on carbon fibers (CFs) using an electroless FeCoNi-plating method to enhance the electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding properties of CFs. Scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and a vibrating sample magnetometer were employed to determine the morphologies, structural properties, and magnetic properties of the FeCoNi-CFs, respectively. The EMI shielding behavior of the FeCoNi-CFs was investigated in the frequency range of 300 kHz to 3 GHz through vector network analysis. The EMI shielding properties of the FeCoNi-CFs were significantly enhanced compared with those of the as-received CFs. The highest EMI shielding effectiveness of the 60-FeCoNi-CFs was approximately 69.4 dB at 1.5 GHz. The saturation magnetization and coercivity of the 60-FeCoNi-CFs were approximately 103.2 emu/g and 46.3 Oe, respectively. This indicates that the presence of FeCoNi layers on CFs can lead to good EMI shielding due to the EMI adsorption behavior of the magnetic metal layers.

Carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP) composites, owing to their lightweight and strength-weight ratio, are being used in many applications to replace traditional metallic materials and their alloys. The combination of polymeric composites with metallic materials can provide a significant impact in engineering applications. This paper evaluates electromagnetic interference shielding of bimetal-carbon prepreg fibers textile composite materials. Prepreg carbon fibers and metal wire mesh are used to make electromagnetic interference shielding samples. The material samples consist of making plain weaves of metal wire mesh and carbon prepreg and stack them with prepreg carbon fiber layers. In order to produce plain woven fabrics, wefts were made of prepreg carbon fibers and warps were made of wire meshes. In each woven fabric, two yarns of different metal wire meshes were alternated one after another. The combination of conductive wire meshes such as stainless steel-copper, stainless steel-nickel, and copper-nickel in a woven fabric was considered. The electromagnetic shielding effectiveness was evaluated for each textile composite material based on ASTM 4935-99. Results showed a possible application of these materials for electromagnetic interference shielding with higher absorption. The best electromagnetic interference shielding performance was obtained for a combination of stainless steel-copper-CFRP with a shielding effectiveness of 131.6 dB. The absorption losses for all samples were about 82% of electromagnetic interference shielding effectiveness. The mechanical properties and scanning electron image of fabricated samples were also investigated.

This paper aims to investigate different properties of the Fe-Al matrix reinforced with multi-walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) nanocomposites with the Al volume content up to 65%, according to the Fe-Al combination. In addition, the effect of adding Co content on the improvement of the soft magnetic properties of the nanocomposites was carried out. The nanocomposites were fabricated using the powder metallurgy process. The iron-aluminum metal matrix reinforced multi-walled carbon nanotube (Fe-Al-MWCNT) nanocomposites showed a continuous increase of saturation magnetization from 90.70 A·m²/kg to 167.22 A·m²/kg and microhardness, whereas the electrical resistivity dropped as the Al content increased. The incorporation of Co nanoparticles in Fe-Al-MWCNT up to 35 vol% of Co considerably improved the soft magnetic properties of the nanocomposites by reducing the coercivity and retentivity up to 42% and 47%, respectively. The results showed that Al-based magnetic nanocomposites with a high Al volume content can be tailored using ferromagnetic particles. The composites with a volume content of magnetic particles (Fe+Co) greater than 60 vol% exhibited higher saturation magnetization, higher coercivity, and higher retentivity than the standard Sendust core. Moreover, the produced composites can be used for the lightweight magnetic core in electromagnetic devices due to their low density and good magnetic and mechanical properties.