Development of High-Performance Hydrogen-Air Fuel Cell with Flourine-Free Sulfonated Co-Polynaphthoyleneimide Membrane

Membranes. 2023. Vol. 13. No. 5. Article 485.

Ulyana M. Zavorotnaya, Ponomarev I., Volkova Y., Vitaly V. Sinitsyn

This paper presents research on the technology development of the hydrogen-air fuel cells with high output power characteristics using fluorine-free co-polynaphtoyleneimide (co-PNIS) membranes. It is found that the optimal operating temperature of a fuel cell based on a co-PNIS membrane with the hydrophilic/hydrophobic blocks = 70/30 composition is in the range of 60-65 °C. The maximum output power of membrane-electrode assembly (MEA), created according to the developed technology, is 535 mW/cm2, and the working power (at the cell voltage of 0.6 V) is 415 mW/cm2. A comparison with similar characteristics of MEA based on a commercial Nafion 212 membrane shows that the values of operating performance are almost the same, and the maximum MEA output power of a fluorine-free membrane is only ~ 20% lower. It was concluded that the developed technology allows one to create competitive fuel cells based on a fluorine-free, cost-effective co-polynaphthoyleneimide membrane.

Keywords: Nafion, sulfonated co-polynaphtoyleneimide membrane, hydrophilic/hydrophobic block, fluorine-free proton exchange membrane, membrane-electrode assembly fabrication, PEMFC, MEA power output

Publication based on the results of: Создание и исследование перспективных материалов для водородной энергетики (2023)