Abstract
A novel technique for measuring the electroosmotic drag coefficient (EODC) of proton exchange membranes using a non flow through, or "dead-ended" hydrogen pump is presented here over a full range of non-condensing humidification. This experiment is conducted in situ under "fuel cell like" conditions, so the transport phenomena observed are directly applicable to an operating fuel cell without any extrapolation. Experiments were conducted on 50 μm and 500 μm Nafion® 1100 EW membranes. The measurements consistently demonstrated that for low to medium humidification, the EODC observed is below unity. This observation confirms that the vehicular proton transport mechanism cannot be the sole source of proton transport at low relative humidity, leading one to conclude that the Grotthus "hopping" mechanism is active even at low levels of humidification.
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