Nafion-Carbon Nanocomposite Membranes Prepared Using Hydrothermal Carbonization for Proton-Exchange- Membrane Fuel Cells

摘要

Nafion-carbon (NC) composite membranes were prepared by hydrothermal treatment of Nafion membrane impregnated with glucose solution. The carbon loading of the NC membrane was tuned by controlling the hydro-thermal carbonization time. X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and positron annihilation lifetime spectroscopy were used to characterize plain Nafion and NC composite membranes. Nafion-carbon composite membranes exhibited better proton conductivity and reduced methanol permeability than those of the plain Nafion membrane. A single cell prepared with the NC composite membrane with a carbon loading of 3.6 wt% exhibited the highest cell performance. Compared with the cell performance of plain Nafion membrane, the maximum power density of the new cell improved by 31.7% for an H_2/O_2 fuel cell at room temperature, and by 44.0% for a direct methanol fuel cell at 60 ℃.