KOH modified Nafion112 membrane for high performance alkaline direct ethanol fuel cell

✍ Scribed by Hongying Hou; Suli Wang; Wei Jin; Qian Jiang; Lili Sun; Luhua Jiang; Gongquan Sun

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 2011
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 521 KB
• Volume: 36
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0360-3199
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2010.12.093

✦ Synopsis

A polymer electrolyte membrane for alkaline direct ethanol fuel cell (ADEFC) was prepared by dipping Nafion112 membrane into KOH solution for some time at room temperature.

The obtained membrane (Nafion112/KOH) exhibited higher mechanical properties and thermal stability than Nafion112 membrane. The ionic conductivity of Nafion112/KOH in 1 M, 2 M and 6 M KOH solutions was 0.011 S/cm, 0.026 S/cm, 0.032 S/cm, respectively, depending on internal OH À concentration and the volume fraction of the internal aqueous phase. Single cell performance suggested that active ADEFC with Nafion112/KOH membrane can deliver a peak power density of 58.87 mW/cm 2 at 90 C, meanwhile, it can stably run for at least 12 h above 0.2 V. On the other hand, Pt-free air breathing ADEFC with Nafion112/KOH can output a peak power density of 11.5 mW/cm 2 at 60 C, and the corresponding lifetime was as long as 473 h above 0.3 V.