3 In situ and operando determination of the water content distribution in proton conducting membranes for fuel cells: a critical review

Abstract

International audienc

Does thermal treatment merely make a H2O-saturated Nafion membrane lose its absorbed water at high temperature?

“…1 A proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) outstands, especially in the application of transportation where its advantages over traditional internal combustion engines turn to be more evident. 2,3,6,7 Meanwhile, some researchers focus on the ''microstructure-property'' relationship of PEMs via both experimental and theoretical methods 5,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] from which effective guidelines for preparing high-performance PEMs are hence obtained. As a vital building component of the PEMFC, the PEM plays a crucial role in the PEMFC performance.…”

“…As a vital building component of the PEMFC, the PEM plays a crucial role in the PEMFC performance. 5,11,14,20,21 Good water retention capability will provide abundant H 2 O for ''proton hopping'' (Grotthus mechanism) and migration of hydrated protons (H + (H 2 O) n ) by which proton conduction is mainly determined. 2,3,6,7 Meanwhile, some researchers focus on the ''microstructure-property'' relationship of PEMs via both experimental and theoretical methods 5,[8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] from which effective guidelines for preparing high-performance PEMs are hence obtained.…”

Synthesis, studies and fuel cell performance of “core–shell” electrocatalysts for oxygen reduction reaction based on a PtNix carbon nitride “shell” and a pyrolyzed polyketone nanoball “core”

“…PEMFCs are compact systems characterized by a very high energy conversion efficiency, up to 2e3 times larger in comparison with competing technologies such as internal combustion engines (ICEs) [5]. PEMFCs are particularly suitable to power light-duty electric vehicles and portable electronic devices such as audiovisual players and laptop computers [6,7]. One of the most important bottlenecks in the operation of PEMFCs is the sluggish kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) [8].…”

Raman Microspectroscopy as a Useful Tool for In Situ and Operando Studies of Water Transport in Perfluorosulfonic Membranes for PEMFCs

“…The most of the developed methods are mainly sensitive to flooding phenomena [27]. Experimental techniques able to probe the heterogeneous membrane hydration remain less common [29].…”