Among the possible systems investigated for energy production with low environmental impact, polymeric electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are very promising as electrochemical power sources for application in portable technology and electric vehicles. For practical applications, operating FCs at temperatures above 100 °C is desired, both for hydrogen and methanol fuelled cells. When hydrogen is used as fuel, an increase of the cell temperature produces enhanced CO tolerance, faster reaction kinetics, easier water management and reduced heat exchanger requirement. The use of methanol instead of hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles has several practical benefits such as easy transport and storage, but the slow oxidation kinetics of methanol needs operating direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) at intermediate temperatures. For this reason, new membranes are required. Our strategy to achieve the goal of operating at temperatures above 120 °C is to develop organic/inorganic hybrid membranes. The first approach was the use of nanocomposite class I hybrids where nanocrystalline ceramic oxides were added to Nafion. Nanocomposite membranes showed enhanced characteristics, hence allowing their operation up to 130 °C when the cell was fuelled with hydrogen and up to 145 °C in DMFCs, reaching power densities of 350 mW cm-2. The second approach was to prepare Class II hybrids via the formation of covalent bonds between totally aromatic polymers and inorganic clusters. The properties of such covalent hybrids can be modulated by modifying the ratio between organic and inorganic groups and the nature of the chemical components allowing to reach high and stable conductivity values up to 6.4 × 10-2 S cm-1 at 120 °C. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Licoccia, S., Traversa, E. (2006). Increasing the operation temperature of polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cells: From nanocomposites to hybrids. JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES, 159(1 SPEC. ISS.), 12-20 [10.1016/j.jpowsour.2006.04.105].

Increasing the operation temperature of polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cells: From nanocomposites to hybrids

LICOCCIA, SILVIA;TRAVERSA, ENRICO
2006-01-01

Abstract

Among the possible systems investigated for energy production with low environmental impact, polymeric electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are very promising as electrochemical power sources for application in portable technology and electric vehicles. For practical applications, operating FCs at temperatures above 100 °C is desired, both for hydrogen and methanol fuelled cells. When hydrogen is used as fuel, an increase of the cell temperature produces enhanced CO tolerance, faster reaction kinetics, easier water management and reduced heat exchanger requirement. The use of methanol instead of hydrogen as a fuel for vehicles has several practical benefits such as easy transport and storage, but the slow oxidation kinetics of methanol needs operating direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) at intermediate temperatures. For this reason, new membranes are required. Our strategy to achieve the goal of operating at temperatures above 120 °C is to develop organic/inorganic hybrid membranes. The first approach was the use of nanocomposite class I hybrids where nanocrystalline ceramic oxides were added to Nafion. Nanocomposite membranes showed enhanced characteristics, hence allowing their operation up to 130 °C when the cell was fuelled with hydrogen and up to 145 °C in DMFCs, reaching power densities of 350 mW cm-2. The second approach was to prepare Class II hybrids via the formation of covalent bonds between totally aromatic polymers and inorganic clusters. The properties of such covalent hybrids can be modulated by modifying the ratio between organic and inorganic groups and the nature of the chemical components allowing to reach high and stable conductivity values up to 6.4 × 10-2 S cm-1 at 120 °C. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
2006
Pubblicato
Rilevanza internazionale
Articolo
Sì, ma tipo non specificato
Settore CHIM/07 - FONDAMENTI CHIMICI DELLE TECNOLOGIE
Settore ING-IND/22 - SCIENZA E TECNOLOGIA DEI MATERIALI
English
Con Impact Factor ISI
Licoccia, S., Traversa, E. (2006). Increasing the operation temperature of polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cells: From nanocomposites to hybrids. JOURNAL OF POWER SOURCES, 159(1 SPEC. ISS.), 12-20 [10.1016/j.jpowsour.2006.04.105].
Licoccia, S; Traversa, E
Articolo su rivista
File in questo prodotto:
Non ci sono file associati a questo prodotto.

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/15206
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 63
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 52
social impact