A Review of Proton Exchange Membrane Degradation Pathways, Mechanisms, and Mitigation Strategies in a Fuel Cell

Dharmjeet Madhav (), Junru Wang, Rajesh Keloth, Jorben Mus, Frank Buysschaert and Veerle Vandeginste ()
Additional contact information
Dharmjeet Madhav: KU Leuven Bruges, Department of Materials Engineering, Surface and Interface Engineered Materials, 8200 Bruges, Belgium
Junru Wang: KU Leuven Bruges, Department of Materials Engineering, Surface and Interface Engineered Materials, 8200 Bruges, Belgium
Rajesh Keloth: Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, NE 68588, USA
Jorben Mus: KU Leuven Bruges, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mechanics and Energy Conversion, 8200 Bruges, Belgium
Frank Buysschaert: KU Leuven Bruges, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Applied Mechanics and Energy Conversion, 8200 Bruges, Belgium
Veerle Vandeginste: KU Leuven Bruges, Department of Materials Engineering, Surface and Interface Engineered Materials, 8200 Bruges, Belgium

Energies, 2024, vol. 17, issue 5, 1-27

Abstract: Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have the potential to tackle major challenges associated with fossil fuel-sourced energy consumption. Nafion, a perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membrane that has high proton conductivity and good chemical stability, is a standard proton exchange membrane (PEM) used in PEMFCs. However, PEM degradation is one of the significant issues in the long-term operation of PEMFCs. Membrane degradation can lead to a decrease in the performance and the lifespan of PEMFCs. The membrane can degrade through chemical, mechanical, and thermal pathways. This paper reviews the different causes of all three routes of PFSA degradation, underlying mechanisms, their effects, and mitigation strategies. A better understanding of different degradation pathways and mechanisms is valuable in producing robust fuel cell membranes. Hence, the progress in membrane fabrication for PEMFC application is also explored and summarized.

Keywords: fuel cells; PEMFC; Nafion; degradation; mitigation strategies (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/5/998/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/17/5/998/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:17:y:2024:i:5:p:998-:d:1342471

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().