A compression apparatus includes an electrolyte membrane, an anode provided on a first principal surface of the electrolyte membrane, a cathode provided on a second principal surface of the electrolyte membrane, an anode separator provided on the anode, a cathode separator provided on the cathode, and a voltage applier that applies a voltage between the anode and the cathode. The compression apparatus causes, by using the voltage applier to apply a voltage, protons taken out from a hydrogen-containing gas that is supplied to the anode to move to the cathode via the electrolyte membrane and produces compressed hydrogen. The anode separator has a first flow channel, provided in a principal surface thereof facing away from the anode, through which a cooling fluid flows.

Systems and methods are described herein for monitoring gas pressure within an electrolysis system and maintaining gas pressure using an electric generator to capture kinetic energy of compressed hydrogen and/or oxygen gases as they are produced by an electrolyzer. The generator utilizes a rotating apparatus, such as a fan or turbine, to capture the energy of the gases and generate electricity. Any electricity produced by the generator is fed back to the electrolyzer to supplement its energy requirements.

The devices and systems described herein generally relate to programmable surfaces. A set of tiles in conjunction with actuators, allow for the surface to be constantly changeable from a first shape to an unlimited variety of second shapes. Once a desired second shape is achieved, the shape can be held by actuating the actuators. The system can include detection and maintenance of the shapes of the programmable surface by controlling which of the actuators are released and when they are released.

A hydrogen system includes: a compressor including at least one cell that includes an electrolyte membrane, an anode catalyst layer provided on one principal surface of the electrolyte membrane, a cathode catalyst layer provided on another principal surface of the electrolyte membrane, an anode gas diffusion layer provided on the anode catalyst layer and including a porous sheet containing a metal, and a cathode gas diffusion layer provided on the cathode catalyst layer, and a voltage applicator that apples a voltage between the anode catalyst layer and the cathode catalyst layer, wherein the compressor that generates compressed hydrogen by causing the voltage applicator to apply the voltage to move hydrogen in hydrogen-containing gas supplied to an anode to the cathode via the electrolyte membrane; and a controller that causes the voltage applicator to apply the voltage after shutdown or at startup.

Previous electrochemically-powered yarn muscles cannot be usefully operated between extreme negative and extreme positive potentials, since strokes during electron injection and during hole injection partially cancel because they are in the same direction. Unipolar-stroke carbon nanotube yarn muscles are described in which muscle strokes are additive between extreme negative and extreme positive potentials, and stroke increases with potential scan rate. These electrochemical artificial muscles include an electrically conducting twisted or coiled yarn and a material that dramatically shifts the potential of zero charge of the electrochemically actuated yarn.

An electrochemical device includes: an electrolyte membrane; an anode disposed on a first main surface of the electrolyte membrane; a cathode disposed on a second main surface of the electrolyte membrane; an anode separator disposed on the anode; and a cathode separator disposed on the cathode and including a first conductive layer on a surface adjacent to the cathode. The cathode includes a cathode gas diffusion layer. The cathode separator has a recess for storing the cathode gas diffusion layer. The first conductive layer is disposed only on a bottom surface of the recess.

An electrochemical heat transfer device for a hot water tank utilizes an electrochemical hydrogen compressor to pump hydrogen into and out of a tank having a metal hydride forming alloy therein. The absorption of hydrogen by the metal hydride forming alloy is exothermic, produces heat, and the desorption of the hydrogen from the metal hydride forming alloy is endothermic and draws heat in. An electrochemical hydrogen compressor may be configured between to tanks and pump hydrogen back and forth to form a heat transfer device, such as a hot water heater. A heat transfer device may be coupled with the tank or may comprise the outer surface of the tank to transfer heat to an object or to the surroundings. A closed loop may be configured having two tanks and one or two electrochemical hydrogen compressors to pump the hydrogen in a loop around the system.

An artificial muscle that includes a housing having an electrode region and an expandable fluid region and an electrode pair positioned in the electrode region, the electrode pair having a first electrode fixed to a first surface of the housing and a second electrode fixed to a second surface of the housing. The first and second electrodes each have two or more tab portions and two or more bridge portions. Each of the two or more bridge portions interconnects adjacent tab portions and at least one of the first and second electrodes includes a central opening positioned between the two or more tab portions and encircling the expandable fluid region. A dielectric fluid is housed within the housing and the electrode pair is actuatable between a non-actuated and an actuated state such that actuation from the non-actuated to actuated state directs the dielectric fluid into the expandable fluid region.

The present disclosure is intended to provide an electrochemical compressor capable of preventing a liquid, such as water, from accumulating inside a piston. An electrochemical compressor according to an embodiment includes a housing chamber and a drain path. The housing chamber houses an elastic body that presses an electrochemical cell with its elastic force, and is configured to receive part of a gas compressed by the electrochemical cell, the part of the gas flowing into the housing chamber. In the electrochemical cell, the gas is supplied to an anode side of a solid polymer electrolyte membrane as a partition wall, and is compressed by being moved by electricity to a cathode side opposite to the anode side. The drain path allows a liquid in the housing chamber to be drained out of the housing chamber.

The present disclosure is intended to prevent blockage of a path that allows a fluid to flow to a predetermined position where a pressure of the fluid is applied to a cell unit. An electrochemical compressor according to an embodiment includes first and second members, an elastic body, a fluid chamber, and a fluid path. The elastic body exerts an elastic force in a direction in which the first member and the second member are pushed apart from each other, and thereby presses a stack of electrochemical cells. The fluid chamber has the elastic body disposed therein and receives boosted gas flowing thereinto, the fluid chamber allowing the boosted gas to apply a pressure to push the first member and the second member apart from each other. The fluid path connects the fluid chamber to a flow path into which the boosted gas is discharged from the electrochemical cells.