Experimental Investigation of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Operated with Nanofiber and Nanofiber/Nanoparticle

Authors: Kevser Dincer, Basma Waisi, M. Ozan Ozdemir, Ugur Pasaogullari, Jeffrey McCutcheon

Abstract:

Nanofibers are defined as fibers with diameters less than 100 nanometers. In this study, behaviours of activated carbon nanofiber (ACNF), carbon nanofiber (CNF), polyacrylonitrile/ carbon nanotube (PAN/CNT), polyvinyl alcohol/nanosilver (PVA/Ag) in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells are investigated experimentally. This material was used as gas diffusion layer (GDL) in PEM fuel cells. In this study, the electrical conductivities of nanofiber and nanofiber/nanoparticles have been studied to understand their effects on PEM fuel cell performance. According to the experimental results, the maximum electrical conductivity performance of the fuel cell with nanofiber was found to be at PVA/Ag (at UConn condition). The electrical conductivities of CNF, ACNF, PAN/CNT are lower for PEM. The resistance of cell with PVA/Ag is lower than the resistance of cell with PAN/CNT, ACNF, CNF.

Keywords: Proton exchange membrane fuel cells, electrospinning, carbon nanofiber, activate carbon nanofiber, PVA fiber, pan fiber, carbon nanotube, nanoparticle, nanocomposites.

Digital Object Identifier (DOI): doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.1110854

References:

[1] Steven J. Hamrock and Michael A. Yandrasits, Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications, Journal of Macromolecular Sciencew, Part C: Polymer Reviews, 46: 219-244, 2006.
[2] R. Bajon, S. Balaji, S. M. Guo, Electrospun Nafion Nanofiber for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Application, Journal of Fuel Cell Science and Technology, August 2009, Vol. 6 / 031004-1-6.
[3] Li-Cheng Jheng, Steve Lien-Chung Hsu, Tzung-Yu Tsai, Wesley Jen- Yang Chang, A novel asymmetric polybenzimidazole membrane for high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells, Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2014, 2, 4225-4233.
[4] Libo Deng, Robert J. Young, Ian A. Kinloch, Amr M. Abdelkader, Stuart M. Holmes, David A. De Haro-Del Rio, Stephen J. Eichhorn, Supercapacitance from Cellulose and Carbon Nanotube Nanocomposite Fibers, Applied Materials Interfaces, 5, 9983-9990, 2013.
[5] Kyung Jin Lee, Nanako Shiratori, Gang Ho Lee, Jin Miyawaki, Isao Mochida, Seong-Ho Yoon, Jyongsik Jang, Activated carbon nanofiber produced from electrospunpolyacrylonitrile nanofiber as a highly efficient formaldehyde adsorbent, Carbon, 48, 4248-4255, 2010.
[6] Thandavamoorthy Subbiah, G. S. Bhat, R. W. Tock, S. Parameswaran, S. S. Ramkumar, Electrospinning of Nanofibers, Journal of Applied Polymer Science, Vol. 96, 557-569, 2005.
[7] Zheng-Ming Huang, Y.Z. Zhang, M. Kotaki, S. Ramakrishna, a review on polymer nanofibers by electrospinning and their applications in nanocomposites, Composites Science and Technology (63) 2223-2253, 2003.
[8] Mohd Faiz Muaz Ahmad Zamri, Sharif Hussein Sharif Zein, Ahmad Zuhari Abdullah and Nor Irwin Basir, Improved Electrical Conductivity of Polyvinyl Alcohol/ Multiwalled Carbon Nanotube Nanofibre Composite Films with MnO2 as Filler Synthesised using the Electrospinning Process, International Journal of Engineering & Technology IJET-IJENS Vol: 11 No: 06.
[9] https://www.ndeed.org/EducationResources/CommunityCollege/Materia ls/Physical_ Chemical/Electrical.htm.
[10] Suman Mahendia, A.K. Tomar, Shyam Kumar, Electrical conductivity and dielectric spectroscopic studies of PVA-Ag nanocomposite films, Journal of Alloys and Compounds, 508 (2), 2010, 406-411.
[11] The Florida Solar Energy Center_ Document Number WP0012WPQRS.