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Comparative analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells
Per-Fluoro-Sulphonic-Acid (PFSA) ionomers have been singled out as the preferable ionomers for making the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) membranes owing to their extensive intrinsic chemical stability and super sulfonic acid strength which is core to the PEMFC proton conductivity. T...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Electrical Engineering
2019
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| _version_ | 1867613249584758784 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Balogun, Emmanuel O |
| author2 | Barendse, Paul |
| author_browse | Balogun, Emmanuel O Barendse, Paul |
| author_facet | Barendse, Paul Balogun, Emmanuel O |
| author_sort | Balogun, Emmanuel O |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Per-Fluoro-Sulphonic-Acid (PFSA) ionomers have been singled out as the preferable ionomers for making the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) membranes owing to their extensive intrinsic chemical stability and super sulfonic acid strength which is core to the PEMFC proton conductivity. This thesis presents a deeper analysis into these PFSA ionomer membrane electrode assemblies (MEA), presenting an electrochemical-analytical comparative analysis of the two basic types, which are the Long-Side-Chain (LSC) Nafion® and the ShortSide-Chain (SSC) Aquivion® ionomer MEA with emphasis on performance and durability which are currently not well understood. In particular, electrochemical circuit models and semiempirical models were employed to enable distinguishable comparative analysis. Also, in this thesis, we present a further probe into the effect of ionomer ink making processes, critically investigating the effect of the High Share Dispersion (HSD) process on both the Nafion® and Aquivion® ionomer membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The findings in this research provides a valuable insight into the performance and durability of PFSA ionomer membrane under various application criteria. The effect of operating parameters and accelerated stress testing (AST) on the PFSA ionomers was determined using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and electronic circuit model (ECM) analysis. The result of this study, shows that the ionomer ink making process for Nafion® and Aquivion® MEAs are not transferrable. Analysis of the PEMFC performance upon application of the high shear dispersion (HSD) process showed that Nafion® MEA had a 10.47% increase in voltage while the Aquivion® MEA had a 2.53% decrease in voltage at current density of 1.14A/cm2 . Also, upon accelerated stress testing, the Nafion® showed a 10.49% increase in its voltage while the Aquivion® on the other hand had a 7.16% decrease in voltage at 0.66A/cm2 . Thus indicating the HSD process enhances the performance of the Nafion® MEA and inhibits the performance of the Aquivion® MEA. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/29764 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:08.525Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2019 |
| publishDateRange | 2019 |
| publishDateSort | 2019 |
| publisher | Department of Electrical Engineering |
| publisherStr | Department of Electrical Engineering |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/29764 Comparative analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells Balogun, Emmanuel O Barendse, Paul Chamier, Jessica Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Aquivion® Nafion®' Perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer Per-Fluoro-Sulphonic-Acid (PFSA) ionomers have been singled out as the preferable ionomers for making the Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) membranes owing to their extensive intrinsic chemical stability and super sulfonic acid strength which is core to the PEMFC proton conductivity. This thesis presents a deeper analysis into these PFSA ionomer membrane electrode assemblies (MEA), presenting an electrochemical-analytical comparative analysis of the two basic types, which are the Long-Side-Chain (LSC) Nafion® and the ShortSide-Chain (SSC) Aquivion® ionomer MEA with emphasis on performance and durability which are currently not well understood. In particular, electrochemical circuit models and semiempirical models were employed to enable distinguishable comparative analysis. Also, in this thesis, we present a further probe into the effect of ionomer ink making processes, critically investigating the effect of the High Share Dispersion (HSD) process on both the Nafion® and Aquivion® ionomer membrane electrode assembly (MEA). The findings in this research provides a valuable insight into the performance and durability of PFSA ionomer membrane under various application criteria. The effect of operating parameters and accelerated stress testing (AST) on the PFSA ionomers was determined using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and electronic circuit model (ECM) analysis. The result of this study, shows that the ionomer ink making process for Nafion® and Aquivion® MEAs are not transferrable. Analysis of the PEMFC performance upon application of the high shear dispersion (HSD) process showed that Nafion® MEA had a 10.47% increase in voltage while the Aquivion® MEA had a 2.53% decrease in voltage at current density of 1.14A/cm2 . Also, upon accelerated stress testing, the Nafion® showed a 10.49% increase in its voltage while the Aquivion® on the other hand had a 7.16% decrease in voltage at 0.66A/cm2 . Thus indicating the HSD process enhances the performance of the Nafion® MEA and inhibits the performance of the Aquivion® MEA. 2019-02-22T11:36:11Z 2019-02-22T11:36:11Z 2018 2019-02-21T10:35:07Z Master Thesis Masters MSc (Eng) http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29764 eng application/pdf Department of Electrical Engineering Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment University of Cape Town |
| spellingShingle | Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Aquivion® Nafion®' Perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer Balogun, Emmanuel O Comparative analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Comparative analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells |
| title_full | Comparative analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells |
| title_fullStr | Comparative analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells |
| title_full_unstemmed | Comparative analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells |
| title_short | Comparative analysis of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells |
| title_sort | comparative analysis of polymer electrolyte membrane pem fuel cells |
| topic | Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Aquivion® Nafion®' Perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/29764 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT balogunemmanuelo comparativeanalysisofpolymerelectrolytemembranepemfuelcells |