Oxygen Transport and Reduction Kinetics at a Platinum Microelectrode Membrane Interface:Studies on some New Proton Conducting Membranes

摘要

Running a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) at elevated temperatures (<100-150degC) have many attractive options.Alternative hydrated membranes to the perfluorinated sulfonic acid based systems (such as Nation~R) possessing high proton conductivity at lower relative humidity and stability at elevated temperatures are currently the focus of a lot of research and development.Among the promising candidate membranes under active consideration include sulfonated poly(arylene-ether-sulfone) (SPES) and sulfonated poly sulfide sulfone (SPSS) polymers.To enable the use of these new membranes in fuel cells,it is of fundamental importance to know the ORR kinetics and mass transport properties at Pt/PEM interface,especially under conditions that closely mimic typical operation conditions of the PEM fuel cell.These characteristics are also important for designing the appropriate interface in the membrane electrode assembly (MEA).