Self-Humidifying Membrane for High-Performance Fuel Cells Operating at Harsh Conditions: Heterojunction of Proton and Anion Exchange Membranes Composed of Acceptor-Doped SnP2O7 Composites

Pilwon Heo; Mijeong Kim; Hansol Ko; Sang Yong Nam; Kihyun Kim

doi:10.3390/membranes11100776

Self-Humidifying Membrane for High-Performance Fuel Cells Operating at Harsh Conditions: Heterojunction of Proton and Anion Exchange Membranes Composed of Acceptor-Doped SnP₂O₇ Composites

Membranes (Basel). 2021 Oct 11;11(10):776. doi: 10.3390/membranes11100776.

Authors

Pilwon Heo¹, Mijeong Kim², Hansol Ko², Sang Yong Nam², Kihyun Kim²

Affiliations

¹ Fuel Cell Engineering Team, Hyundai Mobis, 37, Cheoldobangmulgwan-ro, Uiwang-si 16082, Korea.
² Department of Materials Engineering and Convergence Technology, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Korea.

Abstract

Here we suggest a simple and novel method for the preparation of a high-performance self-humidifying fuel cell membrane operating at high temperature (>100 °C) and low humidity conditions (<30% RH). A self-humidifying membrane was effectively prepared by laminating together proton and anion exchange membranes composed of acceptor-doped SnP₂O₇ composites, Sn_0.9In_0.1H_0.1P₂O₇/Sn_0.92Sb_0.08(OH)_0.08P₂O₇. At the operating temperature of 100 °C, the electrochemical performances of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with this heterojunction membrane at 3.5% RH were better than or comparable to those of each MEA with only the proton or anion exchange membranes at 50% RH or higher.

Keywords: acceptor doped SnP2O7; anion exchange membrane; heterojunction membrane; proton exchange membrane; self-humidifying membrane.