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Published November 28, 2006 | public
Journal Article

Nafion/Zeolite Nanocomposite Membrane by in Situ Crystallization for a Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

Abstract

A method for preparing Nafion/acid functionalized zeolite Beta (NAFB) nanocomposite membranes by in situ hydrothermal crystallization is described. The nanocomposite membranes have a slightly lower proton conductivity but a markedly lower methanol permeability (ca. 40% reduction). When tested with 1 M methanol feed, the direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) with the NAFB composite membranes have a slightly higher open circuit voltage (OCV; 3%) and much higher maximum power density (21%) than those with the pure Nafion 115 membranes. With a higher methanol concentration (5 M), the DMFCs with the NAFB composite membranes demonstrate a 14% higher OCV and a 93% higher maximum power density than those with the pure Nafion 115 membranes. Compared with the commercial Nafion 115 membranes, the NAFB composite membranes have slightly lower tensile strength but higher elastic modulus.

Additional Information

© 2006 American Chemical Society. Received 12 April 2006. Published online 7 November 2006. Published in print 28 November 2006. The authors gratefully acknowledge the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) (CTS-0404376), the U.S. Department of Energy (DE-FG02-05ER15716), and the Riverside Public Utilities for their financial support and E-TEK for generously donating the Pt/C and PtRu/C catalysts.

Additional details

Created:
August 19, 2023
Modified:
October 24, 2023