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Silicate and zirconium phosphate modified Nafion/PTFE composite membranes for high temperature PEMFC

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Abstract

The PEMFC performance of MEAs prepared from Nafion-212 (thickness 50 μm, Du Pont Co), porous poly(tetrafluoro ethylene) (PTFE, thickness 15 ~ 18 μm) film reinforced Nafion (NF, thickness 20 ± 2 μm), silicate hybridized NF (NF-Si, thickness 21 ± 2 μm), and zirconium phosphate hybridized NF (NF-Zr, thickness 21 ± 2 μm) membranes were investigated at 110 °C/ 51.7% RH, 120 °C/ 38.2% RH, and 130 °C/ 28.6% RH. We show PEMFC performances of these MEAs decrease in the sequence of: NF-Zr> NF-Si> NF> Nafion-212. The NF, NF-Si, and NF-Zr membranes have lower membrane thickness and lower Nafion content and require less water for proton transport than Nafion-212 at temperatures above 110 °C, and thus have higher conductivity and better PEMFC performance than Nafion-212. Incorporating silicate and zirconium phosphate into NF membranes enhances water retention of membranes at temperatures above 110 °C and improves PEMFC performances. Besides enhancing water retention, incorporating zirconium phosphate into membranes also provides more routes for proton transport via H+ exchange between H3 +O and HPO4-Zr- and between H2 +PO4-Zr- and HPO4-Zr-. Thus NF-Zr has a higher conductivity and better PEMFC performance than NF and NF-Si.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank for the financial support by Bureau of Energy, Ministry of Economy Affair of ROC through grants 96-D0137-4.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, Yuan Ze University, Chung-Li, Taoyuan, 32003, Taiwan

    Hsiu-Li Lin, Sin-Hsien Yeh, T. Leon Yu & Li-Chun Chen

  2. Fuel Cell Center, Yuan Ze University, Chung-Li, Taoyuan, 32003, Taiwan

    Hsiu-Li Lin, T. Leon Yu & Li-Chun Chen

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  1. Hsiu-Li Lin
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  2. Sin-Hsien Yeh
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  3. T. Leon Yu
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  4. Li-Chun Chen
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Correspondence to T. Leon Yu.

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Lin, HL., Yeh, SH., Yu, T.L. et al. Silicate and zirconium phosphate modified Nafion/PTFE composite membranes for high temperature PEMFC. J Polym Res 16, 519–527 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-008-9255-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-008-9255-6

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