Development of a lateral PEM fuel cell

Gruber, Karl; Loibl, H.; Schlauf, Thomas; Pallanits, Josef; Gornik, Christian; Kronberger, Hermann; Fafilek, G.; Nauer, Gerhard

doi:10.1016/j.elecom.2007.01.033

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

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“…For most fuel cell applications, high through-plane proton conductivity is desired, and our measurements point toward the need for increasing through-plane alignment and thus conductivity. However, Gruber et al recently developed a lateral fuel cell 36 in which protons transport tangentially in the membrane plane. Such devices would benefit from higher in-plane proton conductivity, which is more easily achieved.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Anisotropic Diffusion and Morphology in Perfluorosulfonate Ionomers Investigated by NMR

2008

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Anisotropy in ionomer membranes represents a powerful interaction for modulating properties such as mechanical moduli, thermal expansions, and small molecule transport, all tunable via controlled processing. We observe uniform hydrophilic channel alignment in three perfluorosulfonate ionomer membrane types, quantified by 2H NMR spectroscopy of absorbed D2O molecules. Our measurements show biaxial or uniaxial in-plane alignment for extruded membranes, but uniaxial through-plane alignment for dispersion-cast membranes, and further demonstrate affine swelling with both water uptake and thermal expansion. In order to correlate alignment data with a quantity relevant to proton transport, we measure the anisotropy of water self-diffusion using pulsed-field-gradient NMR along different membrane directions. Extruded membranes with stronger alignment exhibit 18% faster in-plane diffusion than through-plane diffusion, while diffusion anisotropy is minimal for weakly aligned membranes. These results should lead to a more quantitative understanding of and control over membrane properties via manipulation of molecular order.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%