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Substitution of Nafion with sulfonated polysulfone in membrane–electrode assembly components for 60–120°C PEMFC operation

von Kraemer, Sophie ; Lindbergh, Göran ; Lafitte, Benoit LU ; Puchner, Mario LU and Jannasch, Patric LU orcid (2008) In Journal of the Electrochemical Society 155(10). p.1001-1007
Abstract
To investigate the influence of sulfonated polysulfone (sPSU) in membrane–electrode assemblies (MEAs), sPSU-based gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) and sPSU membranes were studied both as complete MEAs and as separate components in assembled MEAs at 60–120°C. The complete sPSU MEAs showed mass-transport limitations, irrespective of ion exchange capacity, compared to Nafion MEAs. Cyclic voltammetry and low-current impedance analysis revealed comparable electrochemically active catalyst areas and kinetic properties in the sPSU and Nafion GDEs, while gas-crossover measurements showed a lower gas permeability in sPSU compared to Nafion. The sPSU and Nafion GDEs, deposited on Nafion membranes, possessed comparable fuel cell characteristics at... (More)
To investigate the influence of sulfonated polysulfone (sPSU) in membrane–electrode assemblies (MEAs), sPSU-based gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) and sPSU membranes were studied both as complete MEAs and as separate components in assembled MEAs at 60–120°C. The complete sPSU MEAs showed mass-transport limitations, irrespective of ion exchange capacity, compared to Nafion MEAs. Cyclic voltammetry and low-current impedance analysis revealed comparable electrochemically active catalyst areas and kinetic properties in the sPSU and Nafion GDEs, while gas-crossover measurements showed a lower gas permeability in sPSU compared to Nafion. The sPSU and Nafion GDEs, deposited on Nafion membranes, possessed comparable fuel cell characteristics at 120°C and 100% relative humidity, demonstrating no considerable limitations when utilizing sPSU as an alternative to Nafion in the GDE, thus implying a sufficient gas permeability in the sPSU GDE at high humidity. Furthermore, the results clearly showed that the sPSU membrane induced mass-transport limitations in both sPSU and Nafion GDEs, revealing that the limiting factor of the sPSU MEAs was primarily the membrane-induced cathode flooding due to unoptimized water transport in the sPSU membrane. The work demonstrates the importance of electrochemical evaluation of ionomers as complete MEAs and as separate components when studying MEAs. (Less)
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organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Journal of the Electrochemical Society
volume
155
issue
10
pages
1001 - 1007
publisher
Electrochemical Society
external identifiers
  • wos:000258976500019
  • other:CODEN: JESOAN
  • scopus:51849165611
ISSN
0013-4651
DOI
10.1149/1.2959113
language
English
LU publication?
yes
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The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Polymer and Materials Chemistry (LTH) (011001041)
id
89ed8eb2-52a7-49e6-a9cb-5782120c318c (old id 1214457)
alternative location
http://www.ecsdl.org/getabs/servlet/GetabsServlet?prog=normal&id=JESOAN0001550000100B1001000001&idtype=cvips&gifs=Yes
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 12:22:49
date last changed
2022-01-27 02:54:19
@article{89ed8eb2-52a7-49e6-a9cb-5782120c318c,
  abstract     = {{To investigate the influence of sulfonated polysulfone (sPSU) in membrane–electrode assemblies (MEAs), sPSU-based gas diffusion electrodes (GDEs) and sPSU membranes were studied both as complete MEAs and as separate components in assembled MEAs at 60–120°C. The complete sPSU MEAs showed mass-transport limitations, irrespective of ion exchange capacity, compared to Nafion MEAs. Cyclic voltammetry and low-current impedance analysis revealed comparable electrochemically active catalyst areas and kinetic properties in the sPSU and Nafion GDEs, while gas-crossover measurements showed a lower gas permeability in sPSU compared to Nafion. The sPSU and Nafion GDEs, deposited on Nafion membranes, possessed comparable fuel cell characteristics at 120°C and 100% relative humidity, demonstrating no considerable limitations when utilizing sPSU as an alternative to Nafion in the GDE, thus implying a sufficient gas permeability in the sPSU GDE at high humidity. Furthermore, the results clearly showed that the sPSU membrane induced mass-transport limitations in both sPSU and Nafion GDEs, revealing that the limiting factor of the sPSU MEAs was primarily the membrane-induced cathode flooding due to unoptimized water transport in the sPSU membrane. The work demonstrates the importance of electrochemical evaluation of ionomers as complete MEAs and as separate components when studying MEAs.}},
  author       = {{von Kraemer, Sophie and Lindbergh, Göran and Lafitte, Benoit and Puchner, Mario and Jannasch, Patric}},
  issn         = {{0013-4651}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{10}},
  pages        = {{1001--1007}},
  publisher    = {{Electrochemical Society}},
  series       = {{Journal of the Electrochemical Society}},
  title        = {{Substitution of Nafion with sulfonated polysulfone in membrane–electrode assembly components for 60–120°C PEMFC operation}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1149/1.2959113}},
  doi          = {{10.1149/1.2959113}},
  volume       = {{155}},
  year         = {{2008}},
}