Electrochemical Analysis of Polymer Membrane with Inorganic Nanoparticles for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells

In order to solve the challenge that battery performance rapidly deteriorates at a high temperature condition of 100 °C or higher, ZrO<sub>2</sub>-TiO<sub>2</sub> (ZT) with various Zr:Ti ratios synthesized by a sol-gel method were impregnated in a Nafion membrane. Through mat...

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Main Author: DongWoong Choi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-06-01
Series:Membranes
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/12/7/680
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author DongWoong Choi
author_facet DongWoong Choi
author_sort DongWoong Choi
collection DOAJ
description In order to solve the challenge that battery performance rapidly deteriorates at a high temperature condition of 100 °C or higher, ZrO<sub>2</sub>-TiO<sub>2</sub> (ZT) with various Zr:Ti ratios synthesized by a sol-gel method were impregnated in a Nafion membrane. Through material characterization, a unique ZT crystal phase peak with a Zr-O-Ti bond was identified, and the band range associated with this bond and intrinsic functional group region could be identified. These prepared powders were blended with 10% (<i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) Nafion-water dispersion to prepare composite Nafion membranes (NZTs). The water uptake increased and the ion exchange capacity decreased as the TiO<sub>2</sub> content increased in the NZTs in which particles were uniformly distributed. These results were superior to those of the conventional Nafion 112. The electrochemical properties of all membranes was measured using a polarization curve in a single cell with a reaction area of 9 cm<sup>2</sup>, and the operating conditions in humidified H<sub>2</sub>/air was 120 °C under 50% relative humidity (RH) and 2 atm. The composite membrane cell with nanoparticles of a Zr:Ti ratio of 1:3 (NZT13) exhibited the best electrochemical characteristics. These results can be explained by the improved physicochemical properties of NZT13, such as optimized water content and ion exchange capacity, strong intermolecular forces acting between water and nanofillers (δ), and increased tortuosity by the fillers (τ). The results of this study show that the NZT membrane can replace a conventional membrane under high-temperature and low-humidity conditions. To examine the effect of the content of the inorganic nanomaterials in the composite membrane, a composite membrane (NZT-20, NZT-30) having an inorganic nano-filler content of 20 or 30% (<i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) was also prepared. The performance was high in the order of NZT13, NZT-20, and NZT-30. This shows that not only the operating conditions but also the particle content can significantly affect the performance.
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spelling doaj.art-b38360975e6e4412bc72efe1f57197422023-12-01T22:25:47ZengMDPI AGMembranes2077-03752022-06-0112768010.3390/membranes12070680Electrochemical Analysis of Polymer Membrane with Inorganic Nanoparticles for High-Temperature PEM Fuel CellsDongWoong Choi0Department of Chemical Engineering, Dong-Eui University, Busan 47340, KoreaIn order to solve the challenge that battery performance rapidly deteriorates at a high temperature condition of 100 °C or higher, ZrO<sub>2</sub>-TiO<sub>2</sub> (ZT) with various Zr:Ti ratios synthesized by a sol-gel method were impregnated in a Nafion membrane. Through material characterization, a unique ZT crystal phase peak with a Zr-O-Ti bond was identified, and the band range associated with this bond and intrinsic functional group region could be identified. These prepared powders were blended with 10% (<i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) Nafion-water dispersion to prepare composite Nafion membranes (NZTs). The water uptake increased and the ion exchange capacity decreased as the TiO<sub>2</sub> content increased in the NZTs in which particles were uniformly distributed. These results were superior to those of the conventional Nafion 112. The electrochemical properties of all membranes was measured using a polarization curve in a single cell with a reaction area of 9 cm<sup>2</sup>, and the operating conditions in humidified H<sub>2</sub>/air was 120 °C under 50% relative humidity (RH) and 2 atm. The composite membrane cell with nanoparticles of a Zr:Ti ratio of 1:3 (NZT13) exhibited the best electrochemical characteristics. These results can be explained by the improved physicochemical properties of NZT13, such as optimized water content and ion exchange capacity, strong intermolecular forces acting between water and nanofillers (δ), and increased tortuosity by the fillers (τ). The results of this study show that the NZT membrane can replace a conventional membrane under high-temperature and low-humidity conditions. To examine the effect of the content of the inorganic nanomaterials in the composite membrane, a composite membrane (NZT-20, NZT-30) having an inorganic nano-filler content of 20 or 30% (<i>w</i>/<i>w</i>) was also prepared. The performance was high in the order of NZT13, NZT-20, and NZT-30. This shows that not only the operating conditions but also the particle content can significantly affect the performance.https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/12/7/680ZrO<sub>2</sub>TiO<sub>2</sub>inorganic nanoparticlepolymer membranefuel cell
spellingShingle DongWoong Choi
Electrochemical Analysis of Polymer Membrane with Inorganic Nanoparticles for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells
Membranes
ZrO<sub>2</sub>
TiO<sub>2</sub>
inorganic nanoparticle
polymer membrane
fuel cell
title Electrochemical Analysis of Polymer Membrane with Inorganic Nanoparticles for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells
title_full Electrochemical Analysis of Polymer Membrane with Inorganic Nanoparticles for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells
title_fullStr Electrochemical Analysis of Polymer Membrane with Inorganic Nanoparticles for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells
title_full_unstemmed Electrochemical Analysis of Polymer Membrane with Inorganic Nanoparticles for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells
title_short Electrochemical Analysis of Polymer Membrane with Inorganic Nanoparticles for High-Temperature PEM Fuel Cells
title_sort electrochemical analysis of polymer membrane with inorganic nanoparticles for high temperature pem fuel cells
topic ZrO<sub>2</sub>
TiO<sub>2</sub>
inorganic nanoparticle
polymer membrane
fuel cell
url https://www.mdpi.com/2077-0375/12/7/680
work_keys_str_mv AT dongwoongchoi electrochemicalanalysisofpolymermembranewithinorganicnanoparticlesforhightemperaturepemfuelcells