Interface-designed Membranes with Shape-controlled Patterns for High-performance Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

Abstract

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell is a promising zero-emission power generator for stationary/automotive applications. However, key issues, such as performance and costs, are still remained for an economical commercialization. Here, we fabricated a high-performance membrane electrode assembly (MEA) using an interfacial design based on well-arrayed micro-patterned membranes including circles, squares and hexagons with different sizes, which are produced by a facile elastomeric mold method. The best MEA performance is achieved using patterned Nafion membrane with a circle 2 μm in size, which exhibited a very high power density of 1906 mW/cm2 at 75 °C and Pt loading of 0.4 mg/cm2 with 73% improvement compared to the commercial membrane. The improved performance are attributed to the decreased MEA resistances and increased surface area for higher Pt utilization of over 80%. From these enhanced properties, it is possible to operate at lower Pt loading of 0.2 mg/cm2 with an outstanding performance of 1555 mW/cm2 and even at air/low humidity operations.

Water management in novel direct membrane deposition fuel cells under low humidification

“…This became in particular evident using electrodes with low Pt-loading, where at high current densities a strong deviation was observed between a CCM and DMD sample in the iR-free representation. In recent literature new concepts with patterned membranes revealed that in spite of identical membrane thickness a modified catalystemembrane interface can strongly improve the cell performance [28,29]. These observations are in good agreement with the observed characteristics of DMD fuel cells.…”

Corn-cob like nanofibres as cathode catalysts for an effective microstructure design in solid oxide fuel cells

“…[1][2][3][4] Among many different fuel cells, solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) is one of the most promising electric power generator for delivering high electrical and fuel regeneration efficiency. [5][6][7][8] SOFC is composed from a dense electrolyte layer that is sandwiched between two porous electrodes of cathode and anode.…”

Cerium Oxide Decorated Polymer Nanofibers as Effective Membrane Reinforcement for Durable, High‐Performance Fuel Cells

“…This was linked to an improved interface between catalyst layers and membrane. [43,47] In previous work, this low R LF-HF was related to strong water Adv. [43,47] In previous work, this low R LF-HF was related to strong water Adv.…”