Experimental Studies of Graphene-Coated Polymer Electrolyte Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

Metzger, Nathan; Vlassiouk, Ivan; Smirnov, Sergei; Mariscal, Gabriel; Spragg, Ryan; Li, Xianglin

doi:10.1115/1.4056269

Experimental Studies of Graphene-Coated Polymer Electrolyte Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

Journal Article · Thu Dec 08 23:00:00 EST 2022 · Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1115/1.4056269· OSTI ID:1999019

Metzger, Nathan ^[1]; ^[2]; Smirnov, Sergei ^[3]; Mariscal, Gabriel ^[1]; Spragg, Ryan ^[1]; Li, Xianglin ^[4]

University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)
Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)
New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM (United States)
University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States); Washington University in St. Louis, MO (United States)

The two main technical limitations of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are the slow kinetic reactions of the methanol oxidation reaction (MOR) in the anode and the crossing over of unreacted methanol through the proton exchange membrane (PEM). It is a common practice to use Nafion membranes as PEMs, which have high ion exchange capacity. However, Nafion-based membranes also have high fuel permeability, decreasing fuel utilization, and reducing the potential power density. This article focuses on using graphene-coated (Gr-coated) PEMs to reduce fuel crossover. Protons can permeate across graphene, and thus, it can be employed in various devices as a proton conductive membrane. Here, we report the efficiency of Gr-coated Nafions. We tested performance and crossover at three different temperatures with four different fuel concentrations and compared it to a Nafion PEM that underwent the same test conditions. We found that the adhesion of Gr on to PEMs is insufficient for prolonging fuel cell operation, resulting in Gr delamination at high temperatures and higher fuel crossover values compared to lower temperature testing. Furthermore, the results for 7.5M methanol fuel show a reduction of up to 25% in methanol crossover, translating to a peak power density that increases from 3.9 to 9.5 mW/cm² when using a Gr-coated PEM compared to a Nafion PEM at 30 °C.

View Accepted Manuscript (DOE)

Research Organization:: Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), Oak Ridge, TN (United States)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Office of Sustainable Transportation. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO); USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E); USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Scientific User Facilities (SUF)

Grant/Contract Number:: AC05-00OR22725; EE0008440; AR0000651

OSTI ID:: 1999019

Journal Information:: Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage, Journal Name: Journal of Electrochemical Energy Conversion and Storage Journal Issue: 2 Vol. 20; ISSN 2381-6872

Publisher:: ASMECopyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: English

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25 ENERGY STORAGE
DMFC
Nafion
PEM
direct methanol fuel cells
fuel cells
fuel management
graphene
membrane electrode assemblies
membranes
methanol
methanol crossover
power density
proton exchange membranes

Experimental Studies of Graphene-Coated Polymer Electrolyte Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

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