Abstract

In this study, a sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) having cardo-type fluorenyl groups (FL-SPES) was investigated as a cathodic binder to improve fuel cell performance via increased the oxygen diffusion in the cathode. The maximum power density achieved by using the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) prepared with FL-SPES with a low ion exchange capacity (IEC) of 1.31 meq g–1 was 520 mW cm–2, which is more than twice as high as that of BP-SPES (210 mW cm–2) having typical biphenyl groups with a similar IEC. At high IEC of 1.55 meq g–1, the power density obtained by using BP-SPES was improved to 454 mW cm–2 but remained lower than that of FL-SPES. In addition, although the IEC, swelling degree, and specific resistance were similar to each other, the gas permeability of FL-SPES was improved by approximately three times compared to that of BP-SPES. The steric structure of cardo-type FL-SPES increased the free volume between the polymer backbones, leading to an increase in gas transfer. Consequently, oxygen diffusion was promoted at the cathode, resulting in improved fuel cell performance.

Details

Title
Fuel cell performance improvement via the steric effect of a hydrocarbon-based binder for cathode in proton exchange membrane fuel cells
Author
Cha, Jung-Eun 1 ; Cho, Won Jae 2 ; Hwang, Jeemin 3 ; Seo, Dong-Jun 3 ; Choi, Young-Woo 3 ; Kim, Won Bae 4 

 Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), Hydrogen Energy Research Division, Fuel Cell Research & Demonstration Center, Buan-gun, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.418979.a) (ISNI:0000 0001 0691 7707); Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.49100.3c) (ISNI:0000 0001 0742 4007) 
 Clean&Science Co., Ltd., Jeongeup-si, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.49100.3c) 
 Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER), Hydrogen Energy Research Division, Fuel Cell Research & Demonstration Center, Buan-gun, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.418979.a) (ISNI:0000 0001 0691 7707) 
 Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH), Department of Chemical Engineering, Pohang, Republic of Korea (GRID:grid.49100.3c) (ISNI:0000 0001 0742 4007) 
Publication year
2022
Publication date
2022
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
e-ISSN
20452322
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2703231124
Copyright
© The Author(s) 2022. This work is published under http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ (the “License”). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.