Enhanced proton conduction of crystalline organic salt hybrid membranes and the performance of fuel cells

• Published in: Materials chemistry frontiers Vol. 6; no. 22; pp. 342 - 348
• Main Authors: Yang, Yan, Chen, Xu-Yong, Li, Xin-Mei, Zhao, Fang, Bai, Xiang-Tian, Cao, Li-Hui
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Royal Society of Chemistry 07.11.2022
• Subjects: Fuel cells; Hydrogen oxygen fuel cells; Maximum power density; Organic salts; Proton conduction; Proton exchange membrane fuel cells; Relative humidity
• ISSN: 2052-1537; 2052-1537
• DOI: 10.1039/d2qm00656a

Among the components of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the proton exchange membrane (PEM) is an essential constituent part of the fuel cell. Here, a crystalline organic salt ( HCOS-1 ) with amino and sulfonate groups has been synthesized. HCOS-1 exhibited a high proton conductivity of 3.23 × 10 −3 S cm −1 at 100 °C and 93% relative humidity (RH). In order to improve its proton conductivity, HCOS-1 was blended with Nafion to prepare a composite membrane. At 100 °C and 98% RH, the composite membrane containing 6 wt% HCOS-1 exhibits a higher proton conductivity of 7.24 × 10 −3 S cm −1 , which is more than twice compared with 3.35 × 10 −3 S cm −1 of the recast Nafion membrane. Compared with the recast Nafion membrane, the maximum power density of the hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell using the 6 wt% HCOS-1 composite membrane at 80 °C and 100% RH has increased by 9.95%, from 815 mW cm −2 to 896 mW cm −2 . The hybrid Nafion membranes of a hydrogen-bonded crystalline organic salt material are used for proton conduction and proton exchange membrane fuel cell applications.