Enhanced performance and durability of composite membranes containing anatase titanium oxide for fuel cells operating under low relative humidity

作者：Ae Rhan Kim, Mohanraj Vinothkannan, Kyu Ha Lee, Ji Young Chu, Byung‐Hyun Park, Myung‐Kwan Han, Dong Jin Yoo · 发表于：International Journal of Energy Research · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.1002/er.7477 · 被引用次数：63 · 研究领域：Fuel Cells and Related Materials、Electrocatalysts for Energy Conversion、Advanced battery technologies research

In this work, sulfonated diblock copolymers (SDBCs) were prepared by polycondensation of sulfonated poly(ether-ether-ketone) (SPEEK) and hydrophobic oligomer, which were combined with sintered anatase titanium oxide (S-An-TiO2) to create a hybrid membrane for apply in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) operating with low relative humidity (RH). Then, a series of composite membranes (SDBC/S-An-TiO2) were prepared by varying the wt% of S-An-TiO2 blended with SDBC. The results showed that appropriate quantity (ie, 15 wt%) of S-An-TiO2 can significantly improve the proton conductivity and physiochemical properties of prepared composite membrane, as well as the PEMFC performance and durability under 20% RH. The 1.5 wt% of SDBC/S-An-TiO2 offers high current output, power output, and durability values at 60°C under 20% RH, which are 0.207 A cm−2, 0.074 W cm−2 and over 90 hours, respectively. These results can be attributed to the good interfacial compatibility between S-An-TiO2 and SDBC.