Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells thermodynamics

Horacio R. Corti was bom in Buenos Aires in 1949. Ph.D. in Cheinistry at the University of Buenos Aires (1979), where he is FuU Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Faculty of Sciences, and postdoctoral fellow at the Central Electricity Research Laboratories (Surrey, UK). He is also Principal Researcher of the National Council of Scientific and Technological Research (CONICET) and head of the Fuel Cells Group at the Department of Physics of Condensed Matter, National Commission of Atomic Energy. His research areas include the transport phenomena, thermodynamics, and electro-chemistry of hydrothermal, supercooled, and glassy aqueous systems, and proton exchange membrane fuel cells. He has published more than 100 articles in international journals, authored several text and technical books, and supervised 10 Ph.D. theses. 

Nanofibre for use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells has been a focus of research during the last 5 years. These fuel cells have the potential for high thermodynamic efficiency and almost zero emissions, but are currently hindered by high cost of the platinum-based catalyst and low durability. Carbon nanofibre webs as a supporting medium for platinum nanoparticles have been employed [46]. 

Professor S. Srinivasan and his team have studied the effect of pressure and characteristics of the current-potential relations in a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell with a proton exchange membrane (Y. W. Rho, O. A. Velev, S. Srinivasan, and Y. T. Kho,./. Electrochem. Soc. 141 2084, 2089, 1994). In this problem, it is proposed to study the applicability of the theoretical dependence of the cell potential as a function of pressure. The temperature is 25 °C and it may be assumed that the pressure of the gas in each of the compartments, i.e., the anodic compartment (hydrogen) and the cathodic compartment (oxygen), are the same, Pn =Po P- For the formation of water in its standard state, the relevant thermodynamic quantities are ... 

Separation of gas and liquid mixtures using polymer membranes has now become accepted as a unit operation in many chemical process flows. Most barrier coatings are applied as dense films, but for applications such as gas separation a very thin layer is needed so that gas diffusion can take place in a sufficiently short time period. Water purification membranes are usually a thin, dense polyamide film on a porous support forming a composite membrane. Fuel cell membranes in contrast involve dense films of proton exchange materials. In many cases, control of phase separation and understanding the underlying thermodynamic processes are key elements in successful membrane constmaion. 

---