Nafion/Pd–SiO2 nanofiber composite membranes for direct methanol fuel cell applications

Abstract

One of the major challenges for direct methanol fuel cells is the problem of methanol crossover. With the aim of solving this problem without adverse effects on the membrane conductivity, Nafion/Palladium–silica nanofiber (N/Pd–SiO2) composite membranes with various fiber loadings were prepared by a solution casting method. The silica-supported palladium nanofibers had diameters ranging from 100 nm to 200 nm and were synthesized by a facile electro-spinning method. The thermal properties, ionic exchange capacities, water uptake, proton conductivities, methanol permeabilities, chemical structures, and micro-structural morphologies were determined for the prepared membranes. It was found that the transport properties of the membranes were affected by the fiber loading. All of the composite membranes showed higher water uptake and ion exchange capacities compared to commercial Nafion 117 and proved to be thermally stable for use as proton exchange membranes. The composite membranes with optimum fiber content (3 wt%) showed an improved proton conductivity of 0.1292 S cm−1 and a reduced methanol permeability of 8.36 × 10−7 cm2 s−1. In single cell tests, it was observed that, the maximum power density measured with composite membrane is higher than those of commercial Nafion 117.