Highly Dispersed CeO x Hybrid Nanoparticles for Perfluorinated Sulfonic Acid Ionomer-Poly(tetrafluoethylene) Reinforced Membranes with Improved Service Life

• Published in: Membranes (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 2
• Main Authors: Ahn, Juhee, Ali, Mobina Irshad, Lim, Jun Hyun, Park, Yejun, Park, In Kee, Duchesne, Denis, Chen, Lisa, Kim, Juyoung, Lee, Chang Hyun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland 18.02.2021
• Subjects: polymer electrolyte membrane; radical scavenger; service life
• ISSN: 2077-0375

CeO hybrid nanoparticles were synthesized and evaluated for use as radical scavengers, in place of commercially available Ce(NO ) and CeO nanoparticles, to avoid deterioration of the initial electrochemical performance and/or spontaneous aggregation/precipitation issues encountered in polymer electrolyte membranes. When CeO hybrid nanoparticles were used for membrane formation, the resulting membranes exhibited improved proton conductivity (improvement level = 2-15% at 30-90 °C), and thereby electrochemical single cell performance, because the -OH groups on the hybrid nanoparticles acted as proton conductors. In spite of a small amount (i.e., 1.7 mg/cm ) of introduction, their antioxidant effect was sufficient enough to alleviate the radical-induced decomposition of perfluorinated sulfonic acid ionomer under a Fenton test condition and to extend the chemical durability of the resulting reinforced membranes under fuel cell operating conditions.