Previously in this blog, and elsewhere, we’ve extolled the virtues of FBGs — like their small size, immunity to EMI, and resistance to corrosive environments.  In a recent paper in the Journal of Power Sources, Nigel A. David and a team from the University of Victoria, Canada have demonstrated the importance of each of these FBG sensor characteristics for their application.  David and his colleagues are interested in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells.  These are thin, flat structures that have an electrochemically active environment inside.  David et al detail how others have tried electrical and infrared optical techniques to characterize the performance of PEMs and how these methods come up short.  David concludes that using embedded FBG sensors “reliably measure[s] temperature dynamically with a relative resolution of less than 0.2 DEG C,” and is an inexpensive approach that may prove useful for understanding current distribution across the PEM cell.

FBG measurements in this study involved both Micron Optics instrumentation and sensors, specifically the sm130 Optical Sensor Interrogator and os1100 FBGs.  See the full paper at: Science Direct