skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Intermediate temperature fuel cells via an ion-pair coordinated polymer electrolyte

Journal Article · · Energy & Environmental Science
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1039/C7EE03595K· OSTI ID:1473810

Fuel cells are attractive devices that convert chemical energy into electricity through the direct electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. Intermediate temperature fuel cells operated at 200–300°C can simplify water and thermal managements, enable the use of non-precious or low-loading precious metal catalysts and provide insensitivity toward fuel and air impurities such as carbon monoxide. However, the performance of current intermediate temperature fuel cells is poor due to a lack of highly-conductive membrane electrolytes and optimal electrodes designed for these fuel cells. We demonstrate high-performing intermediate temperature fuel cells that use SnP2O7–polymer composite membranes and a quaternary ammonium-biphosphate ion-pair coordinated polymer electrolyte in the electrodes. The peak power density of the fuel cell under H2 and O2 reached 870 mW cm-2 at 240°C with minimal performance loss under exposure to 25% carbon monoxide.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E); USDOE National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA)
Contributing Organization:
Univ. of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN (United States)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396; AR0000314
OSTI ID:
1473810
Alternate ID(s):
OSTI ID: 1434125
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-17-31199; EESNBY
Journal Information:
Energy & Environmental Science, Vol. 11, Issue 4; ISSN 1754-5692
Publisher:
Royal Society of ChemistryCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 56 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (53)

High-Temperature Proton-Exchange-Membrane Fuel Cells Using an Ether-Containing Polybenzimidazole Membrane as Electrolyte journal April 2012
Ion Conducting Membranes for Fuel Cells and other Electrochemical Devices journal September 2013
Ammonium Polyphosphate Composite Based Electrolytes for Intermediate Temperature Fuel Cells journal March 2013
Proton conduction in acceptor doped SnP2O7 journal February 2011
Thin-Membrane Solid-Acid Fuel Cell journal May 2005
Porous Hollow Carbon@Sulfur Composites for High-Power Lithium-Sulfur Batteries journal May 2011
Lowering the Temperature of Solid Oxide Fuel Cells journal November 2011
Origin of Toughness in Dispersion-Cast Nafion Membranes journal March 2015
High Temperature, Low Humidity Proton Exchange Membrane Based on an Inorganic–Organic Hybrid Structure journal January 2010
Structural investigation of ternary La/alkaline earth phosphate (La(1−x)MxP3Oy) (M=Ba, Ca, Sr) glasses journal June 2009
High-Power SOFC Using La[sub 0.9]Sr[sub 0.1]Ga[sub 0.8]Mg[sub 0.2]O[sub 3−δ]∕Ce[sub 0.8]Sm[sub 0.2]O[sub 2−δ] Composite Film journal January 2005
Benzene Adsorption: A Significant Inhibitor for the Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction in Alkaline Conditions journal September 2017
Approaches and Recent Development of Polymer Electrolyte Membranes for Fuel Cells Operating above 100 °C journal December 2003
Intermediate temperature stable proton conductors based upon SnP2O7, including additional H3PO4 journal January 2010
Transformation of Rusty Stainless-Steel Meshes into Stable, Low-Cost, and Binder-Free Cathodes for High-Performance Potassium-Ion Batteries journal June 2017
Readily processed protonic ceramic fuel cells with high performance at low temperatures journal July 2015
Mesoporous lanthanum phosphate nanostructures containing H3PO4 as superior electrolyte for PEM fuel cells journal January 2013
An operationally flexible fuel cell based on quaternary ammonium-biphosphate ion pairs journal August 2016
A Low-Operating-Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel Cell in Hydrocarbon-Air Mixtures journal June 2000
CsH 2 PO 4 /Polyvinylidene Fluoride Composite Electrolytes for Intermediate Temperature Fuel Cells journal January 2014
High-Temperature Polybenzimidazole Fuel Cell Membranes via a Sol−Gel Process journal September 2005
High-Performance Solid Acid Fuel Cells Through Humidity Stabilization journal January 2004
Intermediate-Temperature Fuel Cell Employing CsH[sub 2]PO[sub 4]∕SiP[sub 2]O[sub 7]-Based Composite Electrolytes journal January 2006
Nanoporous alumina membranes filled with solid acid for thin film fuel cells at intermediate temperatures journal September 2004
Proton Conduction in In[sup 3+]-Doped SnP[sub 2]O[sub 7] at Intermediate Temperatures journal January 2006
Proton conduction in metal pyrophosphates (MP2O7) at intermediate temperatures journal January 2010
Stability and Conductivity of In3+-Doped SnP2O7 with Varying Phosphorous to Metal Ratios journal January 2013
Beyond catalysis and membranes: visualizing and solving the challenge of electrode water accumulation and flooding in AEMFCs journal January 2018
A Flexible and Wearable Lithium-Oxygen Battery with Record Energy Density achieved by the Interlaced Architecture inspired by Bamboo Slips journal August 2016
Cation–Hydroxide–Water Coadsorption Inhibits the Alkaline Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction journal October 2016
Conductivity of SnP2O7 and In-doped SnP2O7 prepared by an aqueous solution method journal March 2009
Advanced Electrodes for Solid Acid Fuel Cells by Platinum Deposition on CsH 2 PO 4 journal April 2011
Effect of Organic Cations on Hydrogen Oxidation Reaction of Carbon Supported Platinum journal January 2016
An Ultrathin Self-Humidifying Membrane for PEM Fuel Cell Application:  Fabrication, Characterization, and Experimental Analysis journal July 2006
CO tolerance and CO oxidation at Pt and Pt–Ru anode catalysts in fuel cell with polybenzimidazole–H3PO4 membrane journal August 2010
Proton conduction in non-doped and acceptor-doped metal pyrophosphate (MP2O7) composite ceramics at intermediate temperatures journal January 2012
The effects of battlefield contaminants on PEMFC performance journal February 2000
The Membrane–Electrode Interface in PEFCs journal January 2007
Intragranular Phase Proton Conduction in Crystalline Sn 1– x In x P 2 O 7 ( x = 0 and 0.1) journal October 2017
Nanocrack-regulated self-humidifying membranes journal April 2016
Anion exchange membrane fuel cells: Current status and remaining challenges journal January 2018
Temperature and humidity dependence of the electrode polarization in intermediate-temperature fuel cells employing CsH2PO4/SiP2O7-based composite electrolytes journal May 2008
Proton conductivity of CeP2O7 for intermediate temperature fuel cells journal September 2008
Solid acids as fuel cell electrolytes journal April 2001
Influence of phosphate anion adsorption on the kinetics of oxygen electroreduction on low index Pt(hkl) single crystals journal January 2010
Proton conductivity of mesoporous zirconium phosphate pyrophosphate journal October 1999
Efficient, Anhydrous Proton-Conducting Nanofilms of Y-Doped Zirconium Pyrophosphate at Intermediate Temperatures journal June 2008
A Proton-Conducting In[sup 3+]-Doped SnP[sub 2]O[sub 7] Electrolyte for Intermediate-Temperature Fuel Cells journal January 2006
Transformation of Rusty Stainless-Steel Meshes into Stable, Low-Cost, and Binder-Free Cathodes for High-Performance Potassium-Ion Batteries journal June 2017
Porous Hollow Carbon@Sulfur Composites for High-Power Lithium-Sulfur Batteries journal May 2011
The Membrane–Electrode Interface in PEFCs journal January 2010
High-Performance Solid Acid Fuel Cells Through Humidity Stabilization. journal April 2004
The Membrane–Electrode Interface in PEFCs journal January 2010

Cited By (2)

The Nature of Proton Shuttling in Protic Ionic Liquid Fuel Cells journal May 2019
Design of sepiolite-supported ionogel-embedded composite membranes without proton carrier wastage for wide-temperature-range operation of proton exchange membrane fuel cells journal January 2019

Figures / Tables (6)