Effect of elaboration parameters on ionic conductivity for PECVD fuel cell electrolyte

Abstract

Integration of fuel cells for nomad applications (like cell phone or notebook) is characterized by small dimensions and high performances of the component. To obtain theses properties, one of possibilities is to increase the active surface with patterned substrate. Then, the actual planar batteries must be replaced by 3D batteries. Most of deposition methods, used in the actual fuel cell process flow, are not compatible with the 3D deposition because they did not provide conformal coating. That is why we develop a PECVD electrolyte because this method is known to be compatible with 3D depositions. The PECVD electrolyte is based on a fluorocarboxylic acid, which is able to conduct protons. The obtained layer is a protonic conductor that can absorb water and stop hydrogen. Effects of elaboration parameters like pressure, power, or acid concentration on the ionic conductivity will be presented.

Optimization and synthesis of plasma polymerized proton exchange membranes for direct methanol fuel cells

“…The relatively higher percentages of sulfonic acid groups in these plasma polymerized membranes than that in Nafion ® 117, as shown in Table 2, suggest that these plasma polymerized membranes might have higher proton conductivity. In agreement with the previous studies [36,38], a small amount of elemental N is detected in these plasma synthesized membranes. These elemental N are generally considered to be from nitrogen sources in plasma gases.…”

Synthesis and optimization of proton exchange membranes by a pulsed plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition technique

“…It shows these plasma PEMs are mainly comprised of C, F, S and O, where C constitutes the main framework of plasma PEMs, while the other elementals, such as F, S and O, determine the contents of active components for the proton conduction and the proton conductivity of membranes. Consistent with the other plasma synthesized membranes [10,37,38], a small amount of elemental N is also detected in these membranes synthesized by the PPECVD technique. These elemental N might come from a trace amount of nitrogen sources in the plasma gases.…”

“…In the process of the plasma polymerization, the activation of these nitrogen sources by the plasma discharge would lead to the incorporation of the elemental N into the membranes. Additionally, the quenching of radicals in the membranes with the nitrogen sources in air can also lead to the incorporation of elemental N because of the exposure of the obtained membranes to air after the plasma polymerization [37,38].…”

Plasma‐Polymerized Membranes with High Proton Conductivity for a Micro Semi‐Passive Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

“…During the plasma discharge, the nitrogen sources would be activated, leading to the incorporation of the elemental N into the membranes. Additionally, the exposure of the obtained membranes to air after the plasma polymerization could also result in the incorporation of the elemental N due to the quenching of radicals in the PPMs with the nitrogen sources in air, as reported previously …”

“…Additionally, the exposure of the obtained membranes to air after the plasma polymerization could also result in the incorporation of the elemental N due to the quenching of radicals in the PPMs with the nitrogen sources in air, as reported previously. [28,57] To further understand the influence of benzenesulfonyl fluoride on the microstructure of the PPMs, the spectra deconvolution of C 1s and S 2p in both the PPM-M2 and PPM-M3 has been done. Figure 4a shows that the C 1s spectrum of the PPM-M2 could be deconvoluted into four peaks at binding energies of 284.6, 285.1, 286.5, and 288.1 eV, corresponding to C-C/C5 5C/C-H, C-N, C-CF n /C-O/ C-S, CF-CF/C5 5O, respectively, consistent with the C 1s spectra of the PPMs synthesized using the same monomers reported previously.…”