Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies: A Clean Energy Pathway

A special issue of Hydrogen (ISSN 2673-4141).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 August 2026 | Viewed by 1268

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Faculty of Energy Engineering, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 București, Romania
Interests: energy engineering; renewable energy technologies; environmental engineering; renewable energy; hydraulics; mechanical engineering; solar energy; hydrogen energy; renewable energy and environment protection; fluid

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Guest Editor
Faculty of Energy Engineering, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 București, Romania
Interests: hydrodynamics; renewable energy; hydrogen energy; mechanical engineering; solar energy

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Guest Editor
1. School of Energy and Environment, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Centre for Functional Photonics (CFP), City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong 999077, China
2. Shenzhen Research Institute of City University of Hong Kong, Guangdong 518057, China
Interests: perovskite solar cells; photocatalytic hydrogen production; photocatalysts; electrochemical water splitting; electrocatalysts; batteries; supercapacitors; covalent immobilization of protein molecules; corrosion; surface modification
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Hydrogen is a pivotal clean energy carrier in the global transition towards a sustainable energy-based future. When utilized in a fuel cell, it only produces water, offering a zero-emission pathway for power generation. Its versatility is underscored by the ability to be produced from a diverse array of domestic resources—including natural gas, biomass, nuclear power, and renewable sources like solar and wind. This diversity enhances energy security and enables the decarbonization of multiple sectors.

Today, hydrogen production is primarily anchored in methods such as reforming natural gas and electrolysis, with emerging solar-driven and biological processes holding significant promise for a greener future. As an effective medium for storing and transporting energy, hydrogen is uniquely positioned to address the intermittency of renewables and to deliver clean power across applications—from transportation (cars and trucks) to stationary power for buildings and portable generators.

This Special Issue, “Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies: A Clean Energy Pathway”, aims to capture the latest advancements and critical analyses across the entire hydrogen value chain. We seek to foster a comprehensive dialogue focused on accelerating the development and deployment of these technologies, from production and storage to end-use applications in fuel cells, highlighting their integral role in building a resilient and low-carbon energy ecosystem.

This Special Issue will focus on, but is not limited to, the following thematic areas:

  • Development of fuel cells for various applications, such as transportation (cars, buses, trucks, trains, and marine transportation), stationary power generation, and portable devices;
  • Materials science for fuel cells: advanced catalysts, membranes, and electrolytes to enhance performance and durability;
  • System integration, power management, and hybridization of fuel cell systems;
  • Policy, market frameworks, and strategies for scaling up hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.

Dr. Sanda Budea
Prof. Dr. Adrian Ciocanea
Dr. Mohammed-Ibrahim Jamesh
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Hydrogen is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1200 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • hydrogen production
  • fuel cell
  • hydrogen storage
  • technologies
  • energy ecosystem

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

31 pages, 4057 KB  
Article
Cold Start Optimization Study of PEMFC Low Temperature Coolant-Assisted Heating Based on CAB-Net and LO-WOA
by Xinshu Yu, Jingyi Zhang, Jie Zhang, Sihan Chen, Yifan Lu and Dongji Xuan
Hydrogen 2026, 7(1), 24; https://doi.org/10.3390/hydrogen7010024 - 6 Feb 2026
Viewed by 795
Abstract
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) are highly valued for their zero emissions, low noise, and environmentally friendly characteristics. However, they face substantial difficulties when starting up in low-temperature conditions. Coolant-assisted heating is usually more effective than other methods because of its fast [...] Read more.
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) are highly valued for their zero emissions, low noise, and environmentally friendly characteristics. However, they face substantial difficulties when starting up in low-temperature conditions. Coolant-assisted heating is usually more effective than other methods because of its fast speed, high heat transfer efficiency, and simple structure. This study developed a three-dimensional multiphase non-isothermal PEMFC cold start model with coolant-assisted heating. Key parameters, including heat consumption rate, coolant flow rate, load current slope, initial membrane water content, catalyst layer porosity, and gas diffusion layer porosity, were selected as optimization variables. A Convolutional Neural Network–Attention Mechanism–Bidirectional Long Short-Term Memory Neural Network (CAB-Net) was employed as a surrogate model to predict the ice volume fraction during the cold start process. The CAB-Net model was further integrated with the Lexicographic Ordered Whale Optimization Algorithm (LO-WOA) to identify the optimal combination of parameters. The optimization aimed to minimize the maximum ice volume fraction (MIVF) in the Cathode Catalyst Layer (CCL) and reduce the energy consumption required to reach this fraction. The optimization results revealed that, compared to the baseline model (MIVF = 0.4519, energy consumption = 0.77264 J), the MIVF was reduced to 0.1471, representing a 67.45% decrease, while energy consumption was reduced to 0.70299 J, achieving a 9.01% decrease. The results underscore the efficacy of the proposed strategy in enhancing cold start performance under low-temperature conditions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies: A Clean Energy Pathway)
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