Biosourced Antioxidants for Chemical Durability Enhancement of Perfluorosulfonic Acid Membrane |
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| Authors: | Tanya Agarwal Santosh Adhikari Siddharth Komini Babu Ajay K Prasad Suresh G Advani Rodney L Borup |
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| Institution: | 1. MPA-11: Materials Synthesis & Integrated Devices, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM, 87545 USA;2. Center for Fuel Cells and Batteries, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Delaware, Newark, DE, 19716 USA |
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| Abstract: | The chemical durability of perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes is a topic of growing interest to meet Department of Energy (DOE) durability targets for heavy-duty vehicle (HDV) applications. State-of-the-art membranes like Nafion, rely on the use of cerium, heteropolyacids, and other inorganic additives to increase PFSA chemical durability. A less explored avenue for the oxidative stabilization of PFSA and hydrocarbon membranes is the use of organic antioxidants. No reversible organic antioxidant has been demonstrated to date which can enhance membrane lifetime by factors comparable to cerium. Here, ellagic acid (EA) is demonstrated as a promising radical scavenger for PFSA's. It is found that the incorporation of EA enhances the chemical durability of Nafion by 160%. EA, when incorporated with cerium as an electron donorenhances Nafion durability by at least 80% compared to a membrane incorporated with just cerium in DOE-defined durability tests. EA is found to be reversible in acidic conditions like those of fuel cells and its reversibility could be further enhanced by the use of suitable co-antioxidants. |
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| Keywords: | cerium durability fuel cells heavy duty organic antioxidants radical scavengers |
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