Direct methanol fuel cell performance using sulfonated poly (arylene ether sulfone) random copolymers as electrolytes.

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 2001

OSTI ID:975914

Zelenay, P ^[1]; Hickner, M ^[2]; Wang, F ^[3]; McGrath, James E; Pivovar, B S ^[4]

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1. Piotr
2. Michael
3. Feng
4. Bryan Scott

Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) random copolymers are a new series of sulfonic acid containing polymers that have shown promise as fuel cell electrolytes. Here, we report on direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) performance of this class of polymers at sulfonation levels ranging from 40 to 60% (monomer basis). The DMFC performance of these polymers is compared to that of Nafion 117, the long standing standard in fuel cell testing. These polymers show a higher selectivity for protons over methanol for all the sulfonation levels tested, with the 40% sulfonated polymer showing 2.5 times the selectivity of Nafion. While the higher sulfonated forms (50 and 60%) did show a higher selectivity, only the lower sulfonation levels (40 and 45%) have shown improved performance in DMFC testing. The results of these experiments will be discussed in terms of the relevant test conditions, and experimentally determined membrane properties. The relevant DMFC properties of these polymers will be discussed in terms of sulfonation level and compared to those of Nafion 117.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Laboratory
• Sponsoring Organization: DOE
• OSTI ID: 975914
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-01-6867
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

10 SYNTHETIC FUELS
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
COPOLYMERS
DIRECT METHANOL FUEL CELLS
ELECTROLYTES
ETHERS
FUEL CELLS
MEMBRANES
METHANOL
PERFORMANCE
POLYMERS
PROTONS
SULFONATION
SULFONIC ACIDS
TESTING