Low-cost non-fluorinated membranes for fuel cells

Abstract

Energy is one of the most important factors that will influence the shape of society in the 21st century. Fuel cells are electrochemical energy converters, transforming chemical energy directly into electricity. Fuel cells are the main zero emission energy converters fed with hydrogen or renewable fuels like methanol and ethanol to power vehicles, portable devices or to supply electricity to buildings. Fuel cell technology will forever change our concept of alternative energy systems and will become the driver of the next growth wave of the world’s economy. A proton conductive membrane is the core of the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Presently, Nafion® membranes are widely used in PEMFC. However, the high cost, low operation temperature (<80°C), propensity for dehydration, high methanol crossover, and environmental recycling uncertainties of Nafion® and other similar fluorinated membranes are limiting their widespread commercial application in PEMFC and DMFC [1-3]. Therefore, developing cheaper membranes with low methanol crossover have become an active area of research We developed low-cost proton conductive membranes based on non-fluorinated polymer. The membranes are thermally and chemically stable, mechanically strong, highly proton conductive and have low fuel crossover.