Enhanced chemical durability of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells by crown ether grafted carbon nanotube

Low chemical stability of membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) remains a major obstacle to commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). In this study, we doubly anchored cerium-ion in the catalyst layer by forming a complex with the 15-c...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of alloys and compounds 2022-12, Vol.928, p.167227, Article 167227
Main Authors: Oh, Keun-Hwan, Goo, Youngmo, Kim, Myounghwan, Park, Jiyoung, Nam, Kwan Woo, Kim, Heejin
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Carbon nanotube
Catalysts
Cerium
Cerium ion
Commercialization
Crown ether
Crown ethers
Decay rate
Durability
Electric vehicles
Electrolytes
Electrolytic cells
Fuel cells
Grafting
Multi wall carbon nanotubes
Open circuit voltage
Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell
Polymers
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells
Radical scavenger
Radicals
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Summary:Low chemical stability of membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) remains a major obstacle to commercialization of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). In this study, we doubly anchored cerium-ion in the catalyst layer by forming a complex with the 15-crown-5-ether and additionally grafting to the multiwall carbon nanotube (Ce/CRE-graft-CNT) as a long-lasting radical scavenger. To confirm the effect of Ce/CRE-graft-CNT on chemical durability, the binding energy between the cerium-ion and crown ether was identified with DFT calculations. The incorporation of Ce/CRE-graft-CNT into catalyst layer decreases decay rate of open circuit voltage (OCV) by 4 times from 2.13 to 0.56 mV h−1 for 210 h operation. The performance retention of the Ce/CRE-graft-CNT (70.8 %) at 0.6 V is also higher than that of the Ce/CRE-blend-CNT (44.8 %). The results indicate that the doubly anchored Ce/CRE-graft-CNT has a more retention capability as a radical scavenger. Therefore, a tightly bounded cerium-ion/crown ether complex with CNT can provide a strategy to improve the chemical durability of MEAs. •The cerium-ion/crown ether complex is grafted to the multiwall carbon nanotube.•The binding energy among the Ce, CRE, and CNT is calculated from DFT method.•The chemical durability is improved by the Ce/CRE-graft-CNTs as a radical scavenger.
ISSN:0925-8388
1873-4669
DOI:10.1016/j.jallcom.2022.167227