Open AccessAlcohol-Soluble, Sulfonated Poly(arylene ether)s: Investigation of Hydrocarbon Ionomers for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Catalyst Layers
Author(s) -
Aaron Strong,
Benjamin Britton,
D. R. Edwards,
Timothy J. Peckham,
Hsu-Feng Lee,
Wen Yao Huang,
Steven Holdcroft
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of the electrochemical society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.258
H-Index - 271
eISSN - 1945-7111
pISSN - 0013-4651
DOI - 10.1149/2.0251506jes
Subject(s) - ionomer , arylene , proton exchange membrane fuel cell , catalysis , hydrocarbon , membrane , chemical engineering , ether , chemistry , materials science , polymer chemistry , electrochemistry , electrode , organic chemistry , copolymer , polymer , biochemistry , alkyl , aryl , engineering
Novel sulfonated poly(arylene ether)s, characterized as being highly sterically encumbered, were synthesized for investigation as the ionomer in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) catalyst layers. Catalyst-coated membranes were prepared via their incorporation into alcohol-based catalyst inks, devoid of the high-boiling, polar aprotic solvents typically required for hydrocarbon-based ionomer inks. Catalyst layers thicknesses increased from 8.5 to 9.1 \u3bcm when the hydrocarbon ionomer loading was increased from 20 to 40 wt%, but resulted in a 77% loss in pore volume for fully hydrated electrodes. The catalyst layers possessed similar electrochemical surface areas and net ionic conductivity, yet catalyst layers containing 20 wt% ionomer yielded the highest overall fuel cell performance and considerably outperformed catalyst layers prepared from inks that contained high-boiling solvents.Peer reviewed: YesNRC publication: Ye