More sustainable electricity generation in hot and dry fuel cells with a novel hybrid membrane of Nafion/nano-silica/hydroxyl ionic liquid

Yan Li, Yan Shi, Nada Mehio, Mingsheng Tan, Zhiyong Wang, Xiaohong Hu, George Z. Chen, Sheng Dai and Xianbo Jin

Applied Energy, 2016, vol. 175, issue C, 458 pages

Abstract: A new hybrid proton exchange membrane (PEM) has been prepared from hydroxyl functionalized imidazolium ionic liquid (IL-OH), Nafion and nano-SiO2. The IL-OH, with a hydroxyl group that acts as both a proton acceptor and donor, forms strong hydrogen bonds with both Nafion and nano-SiO2, resulting in an effective hydrogen bond network in the ternary membrane. Such an anhydrous hydrogen-bond network, which is unknown previously, endows the PEMs with higher proton conductivity, greater thermal stability and surprisingly a more robust mechanical performance than PEMs consisting of conventional ionic liquids. The resulting PEMs have a tensile strength that is more than twice as strong as recast Nafion and an anhydrous ionic conductivity of ∼55mScm−1 at temperatures above 160°C, with a proton transfer number of ∼0.9. A laboratory assembled H2–O2 fuel cell employing this new PEM delivered a power density of 340 and 420mWcm−2 at 160 and 180°C, respectively.

Keywords: Proton exchange membranes; Hydroxyl ionic liquids; Hydrogen-bonds; Nafion; Intermediate-temperature fuel cells (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.03.075

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