Recent Developments on Alternative Proton Exchange Membranes: Strategies for Systematic Performance Improvement

Abstract

The development of cost‐effective, high performance, and durable proton exchange membranes (PEMs) as an alternative to Nafion represents one of the key technical challenges for the mass deployment of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology in the market place. This review focuses on the most important attributes of PEM materials, namely, proton conductivity, mechanical stability, and fuel permeability, and relates these properties with the structural design of new materials. Various strategies for enhancing device performance with these materials are highlighted and a comparison of different designs of membrane structures for achieving improved target properties is made. Possible solutions for overcoming the shortcomings of alternative PEM materials against Nafion are discussed.

Imidazole-doped nanocrystalline cellulose solid proton conductor: synthesis, thermal properties, and conductivity

“…Such materials can find application in a variety of electrochemical devices including fuel cells which are of special interest because they permit clean and direct conversion from the chemical to electrical energy (Devanathan 2008;Sharaf and Orhan 2013;Zhang et al 2015;Hu et al 2017). A particularly important task is development of proton exchange membrane (PEM) as it allows transportation of protons from anode to cathode and plays a role of a separator between the two electrodes (Devanathan 2008;Sharaf and Orhan 2013;Zhang et al 2015;Hu et al 2017;Kreuer 1997;Schuster and Meyer 2003). A great challenge is to find an appropriate substance which would be able to fulfill both functions at the same time.…”

“…A great challenge is to find an appropriate substance which would be able to fulfill both functions at the same time. Several types of polymeric materials with high proton conductivity have been developed (Zhang et al 2015;Hu et al 2017;Gasteiger et al 2005;Curtin et al 2004;Song and Tsiakaras 2006;Xing and Savadogo 2000;Celik et al 2012;Savinell et al 1994;Li et al 2009;Mauritz and Moore 2004;Gierke et al 1981;Scott et al 2014) including polymers containing poly(tetrafluoroethylene) backbones with different anion-terminated side chains, such as Nafion (Devanathan 2008;Sharaf and Orhan 2013;Mauritz and Moore 2004;Gierke et al 1981). However, these materials exhibited high proton conductivity only in hydrated conditions, which limits the operating temperature of the device to about 90°C.…”

Fabrication of Sulfonated Poly (ether ether ketone)/Sulfonated Fully Aromatic Polyamide Composite Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFCs)

“…Chemical structure identification 1 H NMR (400 MHz, DMSO-d 6 ) was employed to confirm the chemical structure of S-fa-PA polymer because this polymer is soluble in DMSO. Figure 2 shows the 1 H NMR spectra of the S-fa-PA. All the proton signals of the S-fa-PA polymer were assigned.…”

“…1 H NMR spectra were recorded on a Bruker AMX (500) spectrometer at 400 MHz. The calculated amount of SPEEK and S-fa-PA were dissolved in DMF to form 10 wt.…”

“…[1,2] Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have attracted the most international attention due to the excellent advantages, such as high safety, no pollution, renewability and high energy efficiency. [1,2] Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have attracted the most international attention due to the excellent advantages, such as high safety, no pollution, renewability and high energy efficiency.…”