Improving the water management in anion-exchange membrane fuel cells via ultra-thin, directly deposited solid polymer electrolyte

Abstract

Thin ionomer membranes are considered key to achieve high performances in anion exchange membrane fuel cells. However, the handling of unsupported anion exchange membranes with thicknesses below 15 μm is challenging. Typical pre-treatments of KOH-soaking, DI-water rinsing and/or wet assembly with sub-15 μm thin films are particularly problematic. In this work, we report configurations of membrane electrode assemblies with solid polymer electrolyte thicknesses equivalent to 3, 5 and 10 μm, made possible by direct coating of the ionomer onto gas diffusion electrodes (direct membrane deposition). The anion-conducting solid polymer electrolyte employed is hexamethyl-p-terphenyl poly(benzimidazolium) (HMT-PMBI), which is known for its high mechanical stability and low rate of gas crossover. By fabricating membrane-electrode-assemblies with PtRu/C anodes and Pt/C cathodes with a low precious metal loading of <0.3 mg cm⁻², reproducible performances beyond 1 W cm⁻² in H₂/O₂ atmosphere are achieved. The thin membranes enable excellent performance robustness towards changes in relative humidity, as well as low ionic resistances (<40 mOhm cm²).