Synthesis and characterization of Nafion®-MO2 (M = Zr, Si, Ti) nanocomposite membranes for higher temperature pem fuel cells

Nafion-MO2 (M = Zr, Si, Ti) nanocomposite membranes were synthesized with the goal of increasing the proton conductivity and water retention at higher temperatures and lower relative humidities (120 DGC, 40% RHs) as well as to improve the thermo-mechanical properties. The solgel approach was utilize...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Electrochimica acta 2005-10, Vol.51 (3), p.553-560
Main Authors: JALANI, Nikhil H, DUNN, Katherine, DATTA, Ravindra
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Applied sciences
Energy
Energy. Thermal use of fuels
Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc
Exact sciences and technology
Fuel cells
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Nafion-MO2 (M = Zr, Si, Ti) nanocomposite membranes were synthesized with the goal of increasing the proton conductivity and water retention at higher temperatures and lower relative humidities (120 DGC, 40% RHs) as well as to improve the thermo-mechanical properties. The solgel approach was utilized to incorporate inorganic oxide nanoparticles within the pores of Nafion membrane. The membranes synthesized by this approach were completely transparent and homogeneous as compared to membranes prepared by alternate casting methods which are cloudy due to the larger particle size. At 90 DGC and 120 DGC, all Nafion-MO2 solgel composites exhibited higher water sorption than Nafion membrane. However, at 90 DGC and 120 DGC, the conductivity was enhanced in only Nafion-ZrO2 solgel composite with a 10% enhancement at 40% RH over Nafion. This can be attributed to the increase in acidity of zirconia based solgel membranes shown by a decrease in equivalent weight in comparison to other nanocomposites based on Ti and Si. In addition, the TGA and DMA analyses showed improvement in degradation and glass transition temperature for nanocomposite membranes over Nafion.
ISSN:0013-4686
1873-3859
DOI:10.1016/j.electacta.2005.05.016