Insights into the Influence of Different Pre-Treatments on Physicochemical Properties of Nafion XL Membrane and Fuel Cell Performance

Abstract

Perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymers such as Nafion are the most frequently used Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) in PEM fuel cells. Nafion XL is one of the most recently developed membranes designed to enhance performance by employing a mechanically reinforced layer in the architecture and a chemical stabilizer. The influence of the water and acid pre-treatment process on the physicochemical properties of Nafion XL membrane and Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) was investigated. The obtained results indicate that the pre-treated membranes have higher water uptake and dimensional swelling ratios, i.e., higher hydrophilicity, while the untreated membrane demonstrated a higher ionic exchange capacity. Furthermore, the conductivity of the acid pre-treated Nafion XL membrane was ~ 9.7% higher compared to the untreated membrane. Additionally, the maximum power densities obtained at 80 °C using acid pre-treatment were ~ 0.8 and 0.93 W/cm² for re-cast Nafion and Nafion XL, respectively. However, the maximum generated powers for untreated membranes at the same condition were 0.36 and 0.66 W/cm² for re-cast Nafion and Nafion XL, respectively. The overall results indicated that the PEM’s pre-treatment process is essential to enhance performance.

Key findings

• ▸Pre-treated membranes have higher water uptake and dimensional swelling ratios.
• ▸Conductivity of acid pre-treated Nafion XL membrane is ~ 9.7% higher compared to untreated membrane.
• ▸Maximum power densities obtained with acid pre-treatment are higher than untreated membranes.

Keywords

Identifiers

DOI

10.3390/polym14163385

Journal

Polymers

Year

2022