Abstract
Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), also known as proton exchange membrane fuel cells utilise polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) to conduct protons for ion-exchange purposes. Nafion is a common polymeric material to be used as PEM for fuel cells. However, Nafion has major weaknesses such as low proton conductivity under anhydrous conditions at elevated temperatures due to water evaporation and continuous need for water management, low tolerance for fuel impurities and high cost. This study fabricates a newly composite PEM by blending SPEEK and mesoporous phosphotungstic acid (mPTA) at various loading in order to obtain the most favourable PEMFC power output. SP/2.0mPTA membrane has shown outstanding properties in terms of dense structure, 35.75% of water uptake and expected an elemental mapping of 76.20% Tungsten and 23.80% Phosphorus. Even with a lower proton conductivity of 3.502 mScm-1, this membrane has a higher power density of 154.4 mW/cm2 compared to the other four membranes. Owing to the unique characteristics of the as-synthesized mPTA such as high surface area, porous structure, good thermal and chemical resistance, SPEEK-mPTA membrane is one of the promising materials for PEMFC applications.
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