Proton exchange membrane fuel cell: Encyclopedia II - Proton exchange membrane fuel cell - Science

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell - Science

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell - Reactions

A proton exchange membrane fuel cell transforms the chemical energy liberated during the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to electrical energy, as opposed to the direct combustion of hydrogen and oxygen gases to produce thermal energy.

A stream of hydrogen is delivered to the anode side of the membrane-electrode assembly (MEA). At the anode side it is catalytically split into protons and electrons. This oxidation half-cell reaction is represented by:

The newly formed protons permeate through the polymer electrolyte membrane to the cathode side. The electrons travel along an external load circuit to the cathode side of the MEA, thus creating the current output of the fuel cell.

Meanwhile, a stream of oxygen is delivered to the cathode side of the MEA. At the cathode side oxygen molecules react with the protons permeating through the polymer electrolyte membrane and the electrons arriving through the external circuit to form water molecules. This reduction half-cell reaction is represented by:

PEM Fuel Cell

Proton exchange membrane fuel cell - Polymer electrolyte membrane

To function, the membrane must conduct hydrogen ions (protons) but not electrons as this would in effect "short circuit" the fuel cell. The membrane must also not allow either gas to pass to the other side of the cell, a problem known as gas crossover. Finally, the membrane must be resistant to the reducing environment at the anode as well as the harsh oxidative environment at the cathode.

Unfortunately, while the splitting of the hydrogen molecule is relatively easy by using a platinum catalyst, splitting the stronger oxygen molecule is more difficult, and this causes significant electric losses. An appropriate catalyst material for this process has not been discovered, and platinum is the best option. Another significant source of losses is the resistance of the membrane to proton flow, which is minimized by making it as thin as possible, on the order of 50 μm.

The PEMFC is a prime candidate for vehicle and other mobile applications of all sizes down to mobile phones, because of its compactness. However, the water management is crucial to performance: too much water will flood the membrane, too little will dry it; in both cases, power output will drop. Water management is a very difficult subject in PEM systems. Furthermore, the platinum catalyst on the membrane is easily poisoned by carbon monoxide (no more than one part per million is usually acceptable) and the membrane is sensitive to things like metal ions, which can be introduced by corrosion of metallic bipolar plates.

PEM systems that use reformed methanol were proposed, as in Daimler Chrysler Necar 5; reforming methanol, i.e. making it react to obtain hydrogen, is however a very complicated process, that requires also purification from the carbon monoxide the reaction produces. A platinum-ruthenium catalyst is necessary as some carbon monoxide will unavoidably reach the membrane. The level should not exceed 10 parts per million. Furthermore, the start-up times of such a reformer reactor are of about half an hour. Alternatively, methanol, and some other biofuels can be fed to a PEM fuel cell directly without being reformed, thus making a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). These devices operate with limited success.

The most commonly used membrane is Nafion by Dupont, which relies on liquid water humidification of the membrane to transport protons. This implies that it is not feasible to use temperatures above 80–90˚C, since the membrane would dry. Other, more recent membrane types, based on polybenzimidazole (PBI), can reach up to 220˚C using phosphoric acid instead of water: higher temperature allow for better efficiencies, power densities, ease of cooling (because of larger allowable temperature differences), reduced sensitivity to carbon monoxide poisoning and better controllability (because of absence of water management issues in the membrane); however, these recent types are not as common and most research labs and papers still use Nafion. Companies producing PBI membranes include Celanese and PEMEAS, and there is a EU research project regarding these membranes.

Efficiencies of PEMs are in the range of 40-50%.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Science", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki