Great improvement in the performance and lifetime of a fuel cell using a highly dense, well-ordered, and cone-shaped Nafion array

Abstract

Great improvement in a fuel cell was achieved by constructing three fast pathways using a highly dense, well-ordered, and cone-shaped Nafion array.

Sulfonated Poly(ether sulfone)-Coated and -Blended Nafion Membranes with Enhanced Conductivity and Reduced Hydrogen Permeability

“…However, these H 2 , H 3 , and H 4 peaks were not separated but merged. Meanwhile, the DS was calculated based on the relative integral ratio of H 2,2 ′ to the other protons (H 2 , H 3 ′ ,4 ′, and H 3,4 ). The results showed that the sum of the integral values of H 2 , H 3 ′ ,4 ′, and H 3,4 among the protons of repeating units was initially 12.…”

“…Meanwhile, the DS was calculated based on the relative integral ratio of H 2,2 ′ to the other protons (H 2 , H 3 ′ ,4 ′, and H 3,4 ). The results showed that the sum of the integral values of H 2 , H 3 ′ ,4 ′, and H 3,4 among the protons of repeating units was initially 12. After the sulfonation process, the number was found to decrease to 10.2.…”

Pt utilization in proton exchange membrane fuel cells: structure impacting factors and mechanistic insights

“…Currently, there are two established routes to achieve an aligned electrolyte framework, these are, making patterns on the PEM surface [119][120][121][122][123][124] (Fig. 18a) and fabricating ionomer arrays in CLs 125 (Fig. 18b).…”

“…Besides, CV measurements indicated an increment of the electrochemical active surface area, suggesting an increased exposure of catalytic sites. Regarding the ionomer array structures in CLs, a recent example could be seen in the work by Ning et al, 125 who filled the Nafion emulsion into the aluminium oxide template to prepare a cone-shaped array supported on the bulk membrane and subsequently employed magnetron sputtering to deposit a Pt catalyst into the gaps of the array. The results showed that the MEA with this well-ordered Nafion array as the anode exhibited a Pt mass-specific power which was 2.5 times higher than that given by the ordinary MEA.…”

The Impact of Chemical-Mechanical Ex Situ Aging on PFSA Membranes for Fuel Cells

“…However, despite the presence of mechanical reinforcement and/or radical scavengers, the lifetime of composite membranes is still limited for long-term fuel cell operation [ 22 , 23 ]. In addition, it is worth noting that even though mechanical reinforcement and radical scavengers are the most frequently used mitigation strategies to increase the durability of PFSA membranes and thus the PEMFC lifetime, other solutions have been proposed in the literature, for instance, new PFSA ionomers with structural features as well as semi-interpenetrating polymer networks have been recently developed to enhance membrane properties [ 24 , 25 ] while a few authors improved the efficiency of the catalyst layers by using a highly dense, well-ordered and cone-shaped Nafion ™ array [ 26 ].…”