Polymer electrolyte membrane water content

FIGURE 2.6 Activation energies of proton transport Nafion 117, extracted from the Arrhenius representation of condnctivity data at varying water contents. (With kind permission from Springer Science+Business Media Fuel Cells I, Fhoton-conducting polymer electrolyte membranes Water and structnre in charge, 2(X)8, pp. 15-54, Eikerling, M., Kornyshev, A. A., and... 

Water Flux in Polymer Electrolyte Membranes Water flux in the solid electrolyte membrane of the PEFC must be understood to grasp the concept of a local water balance in the fuel cell. From Chapter 5, we know that the ionic conductivity of perfluorosulfonic acid-based solid polymer electrolytes is a strong function of water content. Within the electrolyte, there are four basic modes of transport, as schematically illustrated in Figure 6.21 ... 

S. Tsushima, S. Hirai, K. Kitamura, M. Yamashita, S. Takasel, MRI application for clarifying fuel cell performance with variation of polymer electrolyte membranes Comparison of water content of a hydrocarbon membrane and a perfluorinated membrane. Appl. Magn. Reson. 32, 233-241 (2007)... 

In PEMFC systems, water is transported in both transversal and lateral direction in the cells. A polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) separates the anode and the cathode compartments, however water is inherently transported between these two electrodes by absorption, desorption and diffusion of water in the membrane.5,6 In operational fuel cells, water is also transported by an electro-osmotic effect and thus transversal water content distribution in the membrane is determined as a result of coupled water transport processes including diffusion, electro-osmosis, pressure-driven convection and interfacial mass transfer. To establish water management method in PEMFCs, it is strongly needed to obtain fundamental understandings on water transport in the cells. 

Detected MRI signal should be converted for water content in a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM). Our group performed a simple approach to relate the image intensity to the water content in the membrane by acquiring a series of MR images of an MEA exposed to water vapor activity, a, that are known to result in specific values of X, as the following equation found in literature.40... 

The ionic resistance of a polymer electrolyte membrane is an important parameter in determining the mobility of protons through the membrane and the corresponding voltage loss across the membrane. Currently, the most commonly used membranes in PEM fuel cells are Nafion membranes produced by DuPont. However, these membranes are limited to low-temperature uses (usually below 80°C) because membrane dehydration at high temperatures can lead to reduced water content and then a lower proton transfer rate, resulting in a significant decrease in conductivity. The relationship between conductivity and the diffusion coefficient of protons can be expressed by the Nemst-Einstein equation ... 

The presence of water is critical for operation but in current PEMFCs proper water management is a delicate issue and poor control can greatly reduce the efficiency of the device. An excess of water can flood the catalyst and porous transport layers impeding the transport of reactants and eventually drowning the fuel cell. At low water content, the polymer electrolyte membrane can become a poor conductor and the reactivity at the electrodes is affected. Local hot spots arising due to the inefficient operation result in early degradation of the cell. ... 

M. Watanabe, Y. Satoh, and C. Shimura. Management of the water-content in polymer electrolyte membranes with porous fiber wicks. Journal of the Electrochemical Society 140, 3190-3193 1993. 

The internal resistance of the polymer electrolyte membrane depends on the water content of the membrane. The water ionizes add moieties providing mobile protons, like protons in water [1-3]. Absorbed water also swells the membrane, which may affect the interface between the polymer electrolyte and the electrodes. Nafion, a Teflon/perfluorosulfonic acid copolymer, is the most popular polymer electrolyte because it is chemically robust to oxidation and strongly acidic. The electrodes are commonly Pt nanoparticles supported on a nanoporous carbon support and coated onto a microporous carbon cloth or paper. These structures provide high three-phase interface between the electrolyte/catalyst/reactant gas at both the anode and cathode. 

To control the initial water content in the polymer electrolyte membrane, we modified the fuel cell to permit direct injection of water. Tees were placed in the gas inlets to the fuel cell with a septum on the run and the gas flow coming in through the branch. A 0.5 pL syringe was used to directly inject water into the fuel cell. 

Abstract Chemical structure, polymer microstructme, sequence distribution, and morphology of acid-bearing polymers are important factors in the design of polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) for fuel cells. The roles of ion aggregation and phase separation in vinylic- and aromatic-based polymers in proton conductivity and water transport are described. The formation, dimensions, and connectivity of ionic pathways are consistently found to play an important role in determining the physicochemical properties of PEMs. For polymers that possess low water content, phase separation and ionic channel formation significantly enhance the transport of water and protons. For membranes that contain a high... 

S. Tsushima, K. Teranishi, K. Nishida, S. Hirai, Water content distribution in a polymer electrolyte membrane for advanced fuel cell system with liquid water supply, Magn. Reson. Imaging 23 (2005) 255—258. 

K.W. Feindel, S.H. Bergens, R.E. Wasybshen, The influence of membrane electrode assembly water content on the performance of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell as investigated by NMR microscopy, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys. 9 (2007) 1850-1857. 

Figure 5.3 Water content of (a) Nafion 117, (b) Flemion F-1.44 and (c) Flemion F-1.8 membranes of various ionic forms. Abbreviations used for alkyl ammonium ions are TMA, TEA, TPrA, TBA for tetramethyl, tetraethyl, tetrapropyl and tetrabutyl ammonium ions, respectively (Reprinted with permission from Asaka, K., Fujiwara, N., Oguro, K. et al. State of water and ionic conductivity of solid polymer electrolyte membranes in relation to polymer actuators, J. Electroanalytical Chem., 505 (1 2), 24-32. Copyright (2001) Elsevier).

Commer, R, Cherstvy, A. G., Spohr, E., and Kornyshev, A. A. 2002. The effect of water content on proton transport in polymer electrolyte membranes. 2(3-4), 127-136. 

This is very dry, far more drying than the Sahara desert for example, for which catastrophic effect upon polymer electrolyte membranes, which not only rely totally on a high water content but are also very thin, and so prone to rapid drying out. 

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