Affiliation:
1. MPA‐11: Materials Synthesis & Integrated Devices Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos NM 87545 USA
2. Center for Fuel Cells and Batteries Department of Mechanical Engineering University of Delaware Newark DE 19716 USA
Abstract
AbstractThe chemical durability of perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes is a topic of growing interest to meet Department of Energy (DOE) durability targets for heavy‐duty vehicle (HDV) applications. State‐of‐the‐art membranes like Nafion, rely on the use of cerium, heteropolyacids, and other inorganic additives to increase PFSA chemical durability. A less explored avenue for the oxidative stabilization of PFSA and hydrocarbon membranes is the use of organic antioxidants. No reversible organic antioxidant has been demonstrated to date which can enhance membrane lifetime by factors comparable to cerium. Here, ellagic acid (EA) is demonstrated as a promising radical scavenger for PFSA's. It is found that the incorporation of EA enhances the chemical durability of Nafion by 160%. EA, when incorporated with cerium as an electron donorenhances Nafion durability by at least 80% compared to a membrane incorporated with just cerium in DOE‐defined durability tests. EA is found to be reversible in acidic conditions like those of fuel cells and its reversibility could be further enhanced by the use of suitable co‐antioxidants.
Funder
Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office
Subject
Electrochemistry,Condensed Matter Physics,Biomaterials,Electronic, Optical and Magnetic Materials