Submicro-pore containing poly(ether sulfones)/polyvinylpyrrolidone membranes for high-temperature fuel cell applications

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (16) ◽  
pp. 8847-8854 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zhibin Guo ◽  
Ruijie Xiu ◽  
Shanfu Lu ◽  
Xin Xu ◽  
Shichun Yang ◽  
...  

A novel submicro-pore containing proton exchange membrane is designed and fabricated for application in high-temperature fuel cells.

Author(s):  
Robert Radu ◽  
Nicola Zuliani ◽  
Rodolfo Taccani

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells based on polybenzimidazole (PBI) polymers and phosphoric acid can be operated at temperature between 120 °C and 180 °C. Reactant humidification is not required and CO content up to 1% in the fuel can be tolerated, only marginally affecting performance. This is what makes high-temperature PEM (HTPEM) fuel cells very attractive, as low quality reformed hydrogen can be used and water management problems are avoided. From an experimental point of view, the major research effort up to now was dedicated to the development and study of high-temperature membranes, especially to development of acid-doped PBI type membranes. Some studies were dedicated to the experimental analysis of single cells and only very few to the development and characterization of high-temperature stacks. This work aims to provide more experimental data regarding high-temperature fuel cell stacks, operated with hydrogen but also with different types of reformates. The main design features and the performance curves obtained with a three-cell air-cooled stack are presented. The stack was tested on a broad temperature range, between 120 and 180 °C, with pure hydrogen and gas mixtures containing up to 2% of CO, simulating the output of a typical methanol reformer. With pure hydrogen, at 180 °C, the considered stack is able to deliver electrical power of 31 W at 1.8 V. With a mixture containing 2% of carbon monoxide, in the same conditions, the performance drops to 24 W. The tests demonstrated that the performance loss caused by operation with reformates, can be partially compensated by a higher stack temperature.


Author(s):  
Jianlu Zhang ◽  
Chaojie Song ◽  
Jiujun Zhang

In this paper, two testing protocols were developed in order to accelerate the lifetime testing of proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. The first protocol was to operate the fuel cell at extremely high temperatures, such as 300 °C, and the second was to operate the fuel cell at unusually high current densities, such as 2.0 A/cm2. A PEM fuel cell assembled with a PBI membrane-based MEA was designed and constructed to validate the first testing protocol. After several hours of high temperature operation, the degraded MEA and catalyst layers were analyzed using SEM, XRD, and TEM. A fuel cell assembled with a Nafion 211 membrane-based MEA was employed to validate the second protocol. The results obtained at high temperature and at high load demonstrated that operating a PEM fuel cell under certain extremely high-stress conditions could be used as methods for accelerated lifetime testing.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 4853-4863

Hydrogen is an important energy carrier and a strong candidate for energy storage. It will be a useful tool for storing intermittent energy sources such as sun. Hydrogen is a versatile energy carrier that can be used to power nearly every end-use energy need. By this work, modeling and controlling of ion transport rate efficiency in proton exchange membrane (PEMFC), alkaline (AFC), direct methanol (DMFC), phosphoric acid (PAFC), direct forming acid (DFAFC), direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) and molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) have been investigated and compared together. Thermodynamic equations have been investigated for those fuel cells in viewpoint of voltage output data. Effects of operating data including temperature (T), pressure (P), proton exchange membrane water content (λ), and proton exchange membrane thickness (d_mem) on the optimal performance of the irreversible fuel cells have been studied. Performance of fuel cells was analyzed via simulating polarization and power curves for a fuel cell operating at various conditions with current densities. SOFC (Solid oxide fuel cell) is usually combined with a dense electrolyte sandwiched via porous cathode and anode and SORFC (Solid oxide regenerative fuel cell) is a subgroup of RFC with solid oxide regenerative fuel cell. SORFC operates at high temperature with high efficiency and it is a suitable system for high temperature electrolysis.


Author(s):  
Michael G. Waller ◽  
Mark R. Walluk ◽  
Thomas A. Trabold

Conventional proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems suffer from requiring high purity hydrogen, necessitating a costly on-board hydrogen storage tank to be incorporated into the overall system design. One method to overcome this barrier is to use an on-board reforming system fueled by some sort of hydrocarbon. Unfortunately though, most fuel reforming processes generate significant amounts of impurities, such as CO and CO2, requiring a costly and complex upfront reforming system that is unwieldy for a practical system. High temperature PEM fuel cells based on acid doped polybenzimidazole (PBI), are capable of operating on lower quality reformed hydrogen, allowing for a simplified on-board fuel reforming system design to be envisioned. Advances in high temperature PEM fuel cells have progressed to the point where they are now a commercially viable technology. However, there remains a lack of published literature on the performance of HT-PEMFCs operating on common reformate effluent compositions consisting primarily of H2, CO, CO2, and N2. In this work, the performance of PBI-based HT-PEMFCs are evaluated under simulated reformate compositions.


Polymers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (9) ◽  
pp. 1861 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jorge Escorihuela ◽  
Jessica Olvera-Mancilla ◽  
Larissa Alexandrova ◽  
L. Felipe del Castillo ◽  
Vicente Compañ

The rapid increasing of the population in combination with the emergence of new energy-consuming technologies has risen worldwide total energy consumption towards unprecedent values. Furthermore, fossil fuel reserves are running out very quickly and the polluting greenhouse gases emitted during their utilization need to be reduced. In this scenario, a few alternative energy sources have been proposed and, among these, proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are promising. Recently, polybenzimidazole-based polymers, featuring high chemical and thermal stability, in combination with fillers that can regulate the proton mobility, have attracted tremendous attention for their roles as PEMs in fuel cells. Recent advances in composite membranes based on polybenzimidazole (PBI) for high temperature PEM fuel cell applications are summarized and highlighted in this review. In addition, the challenges, future trends, and prospects of composite membranes based on PBI for solid electrolytes are also discussed.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Guccini ◽  
Annika Carlson ◽  
Shun Yu ◽  
Göran Lindbergh ◽  
Rakel Wreland Lindström ◽  
...  

The performance of thin carboxylated cellulose nanofiber-based (CNF) membranes as proton exchange membranes in fuel cells has been measured in-situ as a function of CNF surface charge density (600 and 1550 µmol g<sup>-1</sup>), counterion (H<sup>+</sup>or Na<sup>+</sup>), membrane thickness and fuel cell relative humidity (RH 55 to 95 %). The structural evolution of the membranes as a function of RH as measured by Small Angle X-ray scattering shows that water channels are formed only above 75 % RH. The amount of absorbed water was shown to depend on the membrane surface charge and counter ions (Na<sup>+</sup>or H<sup>+</sup>). The high affinity of CNF for water and the high aspect ratio of the nanofibers, together with a well-defined and homogenous membrane structure, ensures a proton conductivity exceeding 1 mS cm<sup>-1</sup>at 30 °C between 65 and 95 % RH. This is two orders of magnitude larger than previously reported values for cellulose materials and only one order of magnitude lower than Nafion 212. Moreover, the CNF membranes are characterized by a lower hydrogen crossover than Nafion, despite being ≈ 30 % thinner. Thanks to their environmental compatibility and promising fuel cell performance the CNF membranes should be considered for new generation proton exchange membrane fuel cells.<br>


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 96-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed Jourdani ◽  
Hamid Mounir ◽  
Abdellatif El Marjani

Background: During last few years, the proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) underwent a huge development. Method: The different contributions to the design, the material of all components and the efficiencies are analyzed. Result: Many technical advances are introduced to increase the PEMFC fuel cell efficiency and lifetime for transportation, stationary and portable utilization. Conclusion: By the last years, the total cost of this system is decreasing. However, the remaining challenges that need to be overcome mean that it will be several years before full commercialization can take place.This paper gives an overview of the recent advancements in the development of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel cells and remaining challenges of PEMFC.


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (19) ◽  
pp. 7015-7019 ◽  
Author(s):  
He-Yun Du ◽  
Chen-Hao Wang ◽  
Chen-Shuan Yang ◽  
Hsin-Cheng Hsu ◽  
Sun-Tang Chang ◽  
...  

A well-controlled Pt/PBI–CNT electrode provides not only good interfacial continuity but also numerous edge planes, which has strong electrochemical activity in HT-PEMFCs.


1997 ◽  
Vol 496 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Bhamidipati ◽  
E. Lazaro ◽  
F. Lyons ◽  
R. S. Morris

ABSTRACTThis research effort sought to demonstrate that combining select phosphonic acid additives with Nafion could improve Nafion's high temperature electrochemical performance. A 1:1 mixture of the additive with Nafion, resulted in a film that demonstrated 30% higher conductivity than a phosphoric acid equilibrated Nafion control at 175°C. This improvement to the high temperature conductivity of the proton exchange membrane Nafion is without precedent. In addition, thermal analysis data of the test films suggested that the additives did not compromise the thermal stability of Nafion. The results suggest that the improved Nafion proton exchange membranes could offer superior electrochemical performance, but would retain the same degree of thermal stability as Nafion. This research could eventually lead to portable fuel cells that could oxidize unrefined hydrocarbon fuels, resulting in wider proliferation of fuel cells for portable power.


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