Protic Ionic Liquids as Alternative Electrolytes Enabling Intermediate Temperature Fuel Cell Operation Above 100°C

State-of-the-art polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs), based on membranes like Nafion© have achieved a mature level of performance and cost reductions. To enable new cell concepts, allowing further steps in cost reduction of the whole fuel cell system in the future, it is vital to maintain a high commitment in research on catalyst and electrolyte materials. An intermediate temperature PEFC would enable a simplified design without water management, more effective cooling, utilization of waste heat and a lower sensitivity against feed gas impurities.

Based on own preliminary studies, protic ionic liquids (PILs) can be identified as promising candidates. At the current stage, we prepare PEFC cells based on PILs on a simple demonstrator cell level which show at first only a very limited performance. For this, the scope of the project is defined as:
-Optimization of the polymer-electrolyte system;
-Improvement of the cell performance;
-Investigation of the membrane degradation.

Faculty Supervisor:

Erik Kjeang

Student:

Partner:

Forschungszentrum Jülich

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Clean Technology; Sustainability & the Environment; Green/Alternative Energy

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: