Effects of sulfonated polyether-etherketone (SPEEK) and composite membranes on the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) performance

Abstract

Sulfonated polyether-etherketone (SPEEK) has a potential for proton exchange fuel cell applications. However, its conductivity and thermohydrolytic stability should be improved. In this study the proton conductivity was improved by addition of an aluminosilicate, zeolite beta. Moreover, thermohydrolytic stability was improved by blending poly-ether-sulfone (PES). Sulfonated polymers were characterized by H-NMR. Composite membranes prepared were characterized by Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) for their proton conductivity. Degree of sulfonation (DS) values calculated from H-NMR results, and both proton conductivity and thermohydrolytic stability was found to strongly depend on DS. Therefore, DS values were controlled time in the range of 55–75% by controlling the reaction time. Zeolite beta fillers at different SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 ratios (20, 30, 40, 50) were synthesized and characterized by XRD, EDX, TGA, and SEM. The proton conductivity of plain SPEEK membrane (DS = 68%) was 0.06 S/cm at 60 °C and the conductivity of the composite membrane containing of zeolite beta filled SPEEK was found to increase to 0.13 S/cm. Among the zeolite Beta/SPEEK composite membranes the best conductivity results were achieved with zeolite beta having a SiO 2 /Al 2 O 3 ratio of 50 at 10 wt% loading. Single fuel cell tests performed at different operating temperatures indicated that SPES/SPEEK membrane is more stable hydrodynamically and also performed better than pristine SPEEK membranes which swell excessively. Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) were prepared by gas diffusion layer (GDL) spraying method. The highest performance of 400 mA/cm 2 was obtained for SPEEK membrane (DS 56%) at 0.6 V for a H 2 –O 2 /PEMFC working at 1 atm and 70 °C. At the same conditions Nafion ® 112 gave 660 mA/cm 2 . It was observed that the operating temperature can be increased up to 90 °C with polymer blends containing poly-ether-sulfone (PES).