Bharath, VJ;
Jervis, R;
Millichamp, J;
Neville, TP;
Mason, T;
Tjaden, B;
Shearing, PR;
... Brett, DJL; + view all
(2017)
Alkaline anion exchange membrane degradation as a function of humidity measured using the quartz crystal microbalance.
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
, 42
(9)
pp. 6243-6249.
10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.01.158.
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Abstract
The solid polymer electrolyte (SPE) alkaline anion exchange membrane (AAEM) fuel cell exhibits facile oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics and has the ability to utilise non-precious metal electrocatalysts. However, the AAEM is reported to suffer from increased instability within the alkaline media (degradation) via a number of routes, including nucleophilic elimination when operated at temperatures above 60 °C, somewhat eliminating the kinetic advantage of operating at higher temperatures. Nonetheless, modelling studies have indicated that the membrane hydration could show improved resistance to alkaline instability and subsequent degradation when operated at elevated temperatures. This investigation uses the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) to examine the thermal stability of a commercial AAEM as a function of humidity. The results show that hydration improves ionomer resistance to degradation, as the ions within the system (namely the OH- nucleophile and cationic headgroups) become less reactive. In-line mass spectrometry data confirms that the ionomer degrades during the elevated temperature excursions used in this study.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | Alkaline anion exchange membrane degradation as a function of humidity measured using the quartz crystal microbalance |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.01.158 |
| Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2017.01.158 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © 2017 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. This manuscript version is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non-commercial Non-derivative 4.0 International license (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0). This license allows you to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work for personal and non-commercial use providing author and publisher attribution is clearly stated. Further details about CC BY licenses are available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/. Access may be initially restricted by the publisher. |
| Keywords: | Fuel cells; Hofmann elimination; QCM; In-situ degradation; Thin film |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Engineering Science > Dept of Chemical Engineering |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1545040 |
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