Development of WO3-Nafion Based Membranes for Enabling Higher Water Retention at Low Humidity and Enhancing PEMFC Performance at Intermediate Temperature Operation

Asmaa Selim; Gábor Pál Szijjártó; Loránd Románszki; András Tompos

doi:10.3390/polym14122492

Development of WO₃-Nafion Based Membranes for Enabling Higher Water Retention at Low Humidity and Enhancing PEMFC Performance at Intermediate Temperature Operation

Polymers (Basel). 2022 Jun 19;14(12):2492. doi: 10.3390/polym14122492.

Authors

Asmaa Selim^{1

2}, Gábor Pál Szijjártó¹, Loránd Románszki³, András Tompos¹

Affiliations

¹ Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Renewable Energy Group, Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary.
² National Research Centre, Chemical Engineering and Pilot Plat Department, Engineering and Renewable Energy Research Institute, 33 El Bohouth Street, Giza 12622, Egypt.
³ Research Centre for Natural Sciences, Functional Interfaces Research Group, Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Magyar Tudósok Körútja 2, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary.

Abstract

The proton exchange membrane (PEM) represents a pivotal material and a key challenge in developing fuel cell science and hydrogen technology. Nafion is the most promising polymer which will lead to its commercialisation. Hybrid membranes of nanosized tungsten oxide (WO₃) and Nafion were fabricated, characterised, and tested in a single cell. The incorporation of 10 wt% WO₃ resulted in 21% higher water uptake, 11.7% lower swelling ratio, almost doubling the hydration degree, and 13% higher mechanical stability of the hybrid membrane compared to the Nafion XL. Compared to commercial Nafion XL, the rNF-WO-10 hybrid membrane showed an 8.8% and 20% increase in current density of the cell at 0.4 V operating at 80 and 95 °C with 1.89 and 2.29 A/cm², respectively. The maximum power density has increased by 9% (0.76 W/cm²) and 19.9% (0.922 W/cm²) when operating at the same temperatures compared to the commercial Nafion XL membrane. Generally, considering the particular structure of Nafion XL, our Nafion-based membrane with 10 wt% WO₃ (rNF-WO-10) is a suitable PEM with a comparable performance at different operating conditions.

Keywords: Nafion; hybrid inorganic–organic membranes; hydration degree; low humidity fuel cells; mechanical stability; proton exchange membranes; tungsten oxide.

Grants and funding

This research was funded by Project no. RRF-2.3.1-21-2022-00009, titled National Laboratory for Renewable Energy has been implemented with the support provided by the Recovery and Resilience Facility of the European Union within the framework of Programme Széchenyi Plan Plus.