Elaboration of nanostructured and highly proton conductive membranes for PEMFC by ion track grafting technique

2012 ◽  
Vol 1384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Enrico Gallino ◽  
Marie-Claude Clochard ◽  
Emmanuel Balanzat ◽  
Gerard Gebel ◽  
Arnaud Morin
Keyword(s):  
Mechanical Properties ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Membrane Electrode Assembly ◽  
Exchange Capacity ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
Grafting Technique ◽  
Pvdf Matrix ◽  
Grafting Degree

ABSTRACTIn order to develop a novel proton conductive membrane for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), a poly(vinyl di-fluoride) (PVDF) matrix was irradiated with swift heavy ions (SHI) to obtain radically active cylindrical latent tracks in the polymer film. Styrene was then radiografted and further sulfonated into these irradiated cylindrical regions, leading to sulfonated polystyrene (PVDF-g-PSSA) domains within PVDF. The role of the grafting degree and fluence of irradiation of the PVDF matrix on PVDF-g-PSSA membranes properties (chemical composition, ion exchange capacity) was investigated. Then, a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) was prepared and fuel cell tests have been performed. Our results clearly show that PVDF-g-PSSA membranes with a grafting degree of about 140%, obtained after irradiation at a fluence of 1010 ions/cm2, exhibit good conductivity values but their durability is limited to about 70 h. Decreasing the fluence leads to membranes with lower grafting yield but with fuel cell performances closer to those of 140% grafted PVDF-g-PSSA membrane and improved mechanical properties. Then, ion track grafting technique is a promising technique to obtain PEM with a good trade-off between proton conductivity and mechanical properties.

scholarly journals MOF Derived Catalysts for Oxygen Reduction Reaction in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

2018 ◽  
Vol 778 ◽  
pp. 275-282
Author(s):  
Noaman Khan ◽  
Saim Saher ◽  
Xuan Shi ◽  
Muhammad Noman ◽  
Mujahid Wasim Durani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Nanotubes ◽  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Membrane Electrode Assembly ◽  
Reduction Reaction ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
Nitrogen Doped ◽  
Nitrogen Doped Carbon ◽  
Exchange Membrane

Highly porous ZIF-67 (Zeolitic imidazole framework) has a conductive crystalline metal organic framework (MOF) structure which was served as a precursor and template for the preparation of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes (NCNTs) electrocatalysts. As a first step, the chloroplatinic acid, a platinum (Pt) precursor was infiltrated in ZIF-67 with a precise amount to obtain 0.12 mg.cm-2 Pt loading. Later, the infiltrated structure was calcined at 700°C in Ar:H2 (90:10 vol%) gas mixture. Multi-walled nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes were grown on the surface of ZIF-67 crystals following thermal activation at 700°C. The resulting PtCo-NCNTs electrocatalysts were deposited on Nafion-212 solid electrolyte membrane by spray technique to study the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) in the presence of H2/O2 gases in a temperature range of 50-70°C. The present study elucidates the performance of nitrogen-doped carbon nanotubes ORR electrocatalysts derived from ZIF-67 and the effects of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) steaming on the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) employing PtCo-NCNTs as ORR electrocatalysts. We observed that the peak power density at 70°C was 450 mW/cm2 for steamed membrane electrode assembly (MEA) compared to 392 mW/cm2 for an identical MEA without steaming.

Investigation of membrane electrode assembly (MEA) hot-pressing parameters for proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Energy ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 32 (12) ◽  
pp. 2401-2411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Apichai Therdthianwong ◽  
Phochan Manomayidthikarn ◽  
Supaporn Therdthianwong
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Hot Pressing ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Membrane Electrode Assembly ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
Exchange Membrane

scholarly journals Model-Based Control of a Continuous Coating Line for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Electrode Assembly

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Vikram Devaraj ◽  
Luis Felipe Lopez ◽  
Joseph J. Beaman ◽  
Serge Prudhomme
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Membrane Electrode Assembly ◽  
Pilot Scale ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
Linear Quadratic ◽  
Manufacturing Defects ◽  
Cell Electrode ◽  
Coating Line

The most expensive component of a fuel cell is the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which consists of an ionomer membrane coated with catalyst material. Best-performing MEAs are currently fabricated by depositing and drying liquid catalyst ink on the membrane; however, this process is limited to individual preparation by hand due to the membrane’s rapid water absorption that leads to shape deformation and coating defects. A continuous coating line can reduce the cost and time needed to fabricate the MEA, incentivizing the commercialization and widespread adoption of fuel cells. A pilot-scale membrane coating line was designed for such a task and is described in this paper. Accurate process control is necessary to prevent manufacturing defects from occurring in the coating line. A linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) controller was developed based on a physics-based model of the coating process to optimally control the temperature and humidity of the drying zones. The process controller was implemented in the pilot-scale coating line proving effective in preventing defects.

In-Situ Measurements of Water Transfer Due to Different Mechanisms in a PEM Fuel Cell

2007 ◽  
Author(s):  
Attila Husar ◽  
Andrew Higier ◽  
Hongtan Liu
Keyword(s):  
Fuel Cell ◽  
Proton Exchange Membrane ◽  
Pem Fuel Cell ◽  
Membrane Electrode Assembly ◽  
Pem Fuel Cells ◽  
Water Transfer ◽  
Proton Exchange ◽  
Membrane Electrode ◽  
Order Of Magnitude

Water management is of critical importance in a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Yet there are very limited studies of water transfer through the membrane and no data are available for water transfer due to individual mechanisms through the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) in an operational fuel cell. Thus it is the objective of this study to measure water transfer through the MEA due to different mechanisms through the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of an operational PEM fuel cell. The three different mechanisms of water transfer, i.e., electro-osmotic drag, diffusion and hydraulic permeation were isolated by specially imposed boundary conditions. Therefore water transfer through the MEA due to each mechanism could be measured separately. In this study, all the data were collected in an actual assembled operational fuel cell, and some of the data were collected while the fuel cell was generating power. The measured results showed that water transfer due to hydraulic permeation, i.e. the pressure difference between the anode and cathode is at least an order of magnitude lower than those due to other two mechanisms. The data for water transfers due to electro-osmosis and diffusion through the MEA are in good agreement with some of the data and model predications in the literature for the membrane. The methodology used in this study is simple and can be easily adopted for in-situ water transfer measurement due to different mechanisms in actual PEM fuel cells without any cell modifications.

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