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How does a small structural change of anode ionomer make a big difference in alkaline membrane fuel cell performance?
- Source :
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 7:25040-25046
- Publication Year :
- 2019
- Publisher :
- Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), 2019.
-
Abstract
- Anode ionomers of alkaline membrane fuel cells (AMFCs) play a critical role in hydrogen and water transport thus affecting cell performance and durability. Here, we modified a quaternized poly(biphenyl alkylene) ionomer with two chemical structural variations to increase hydrogen access to the AMFC anode: first, we introduced the symmetric dimethyl groups in the polymer backbone to increase polymer fractional free volume. Second, we replaced hydroxide-conducting alkyl trimethylammonium with alkyl triethylammonium to reduce cation–hydroxide–water co-adsorption on the hydrogen oxidation catalyst to increase hydrogen access to the co-adsorbed layer. We compared the performance benefits of the two structural variations through operating AMFCs under H2/O2 conditions. The membrane electrode assembly employing the modified poly(biphenyl alkylene) ionomer at the anode exhibited >1500 mW cm−2 peak power density at 80 °C with stable short-term durability (>100 h) under a constant current density of 0.6 A cm−2. This study provides an essential insight into designing anode ionomer of highly performing AMFCs.
- Subjects :
- chemistry.chemical_classification
Materials science
Water transport
Hydrogen
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Membrane electrode assembly
chemistry.chemical_element
02 engineering and technology
General Chemistry
Polymer
021001 nanoscience & nanotechnology
Anode
chemistry.chemical_compound
Membrane
chemistry
Chemical engineering
General Materials Science
0210 nano-technology
Ionomer
Alkyl
Subjects
Details
- ISSN :
- 20507496 and 20507488
- Volume :
- 7
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Journal of Materials Chemistry A
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi...........8ec37be55351514aba7ec71fbd3021dc