Preparation and characterization of sulfated zirconia (SO4/ZrO2)/Nafion composite membranes for PEMFC operation at high temperature/low humidity |
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Authors: | Yunfeng Zhai Huamin Zhang Jingwei Hu Baolian Yi |
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Institution: | aProton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Key Materials and Technology Laboratory, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 457, Zhongshan Road, Dalian 116023, China bGraduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100039, China |
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Abstract: | Fine particle superacidic sulfated zirconia (SO42?/ZrO2, S-ZrO2) was synthesized by ameliorated method, and composite membranes with different S-ZrO2 contents were prepared by a recasting procedure from a suspension of S-ZrO2 powder and Nafion solution. The physico-chemical properties of the membranes were studied by ion exchange capacity (IEC) and liquid water uptake measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, thermogravimetry–mass spectrometry (TG–MS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The results showed that the IEC of composite membrane increased with the content of S-ZrO2, S-ZrO2 was compatible with the Nafion matrix, the incorporation of the S-ZrO2 could increase the crystallinity and also improve the initial degradation temperature of the composite membrane. The performance of single cell was the best when the S-ZrO2 content was 15 wt.%, and achieved 1.35 W/cm2 at 80 °C and 0.99 W/cm2 at 120 °C based on H2/O2 and at a pressure of 2 atm, the performance of the single cell with optimized S-ZrO2 was far more than that of the Nafion at the same condition (e.g. 1.28 W/cm2 at 80 °C, 0.75 W/cm2 at 120 °C). The 15 wt.% S-ZrO2/Nafion composite membrane showed lower fuel cell internal resistance than Nafion membranes at high temperature and low relative humidity (RH). |
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Keywords: | Sulfated zirconia Composite membrane S-ZrO2/Nafion High temperature PEMFC Ion exchange capacity |
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