Enhancement of fuel cell performance with less-water dependent composite membranes having polyoxometalate anchored nanofibrous interlayer

Journal Publication ResearchOnline@JCU
Abouzari-Iotf, Ebrahim;Jacob, Mohan V.;Ghassemi, Hossein;Ahmad, Arshad;Nasef, Mohamed Mahmoud;Zakeri, Masoumeh;Mehdipour-Ataei, Shahram
Abstract

Polyoxometalate immobilized nanofiber was used to fabricate low gas permeable layer for composite membranes designed for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) operating at low relative humidity (RH). The composite membranes revealed enhanced proton conductivity in dry conditions compared with state-of-the-art pristine membrane (Nafion 112, N112). This was coupled with a low fuel crossover inheriting the composite membranes about 100 mV higher OCV than N112 when tested in PEMFC at 60 degrees C and 40% RH. A maximum power density of up to 930 mW cm(-2) was also achieved which is substantially higher than the N112 under similar conditions (577 mW cm(-2)). Such remarkable performance enhancement along with undetectable leaching of immobilized polyoxometalate, high dimensional stability and low water uptake of the composite membranes suggest a strong potential for PEMFC under low RH operation.

Journal

Journal of Power Sources

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Volume

326

ISBN/ISSN

1873-2755

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Pages Count

8

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Publisher

Elsevier

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EISSN

N/A

DOI

10.1016/j.jpowsour.2016.07.027