Performance of porous carbon nanofibers as microporous layer for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

doi:10.16085/j.issn.1000-6613.2020-0002

Abstract

Abstract:

Adding microporous layer to the membrane electrode of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell plays an important role in improving the water management ability of the system and the overall performance of the membrane electrode(MEA). In this paper,porous carbon nanofiber(PCNF) was prepared by electrospinning method and subsequent heat treatment,and then built up to form the microporous layer of membrane electrode. Unlike the microporous layer made of carbon black particles,which have a tightly packed structure,the microporous layer constructed by PCNF showed a loose three-dimensional interconnected structure. Single cell tests demonstrated that the maximum power density (70.0mW/cm²) of the membrane electrodes with PCNF as the microporous layer (MPL-PCNF) was higher than that (58.1mW/cm²) with carbon black particles as the microporous layer (MPL-CB). The maximum power density of a membrane electrode without microporous layer (Ref) structure was only 27.7mW/cm². The results showed the obvious advantages of using porous nanocarbon fibers as the microporous layer.

Key words: microporous layer, porous carbon nanofiber, membrane electrode, nanomaterials, fuel cells, electrochemistry

摘要：

质子交换膜燃料电池膜电极中的微孔层结构对改善体系的水管理能力，提升膜电极的整体性能发挥重要作用。本文通过静电纺丝和后续热处理的方法制备了多孔纳米碳纤维（PCNF），并以此构建膜电极的微孔层。与炭黑颗粒作为微孔层呈现出紧密堆积结构不同，由PCNF搭建的微孔层结构疏松呈现三维贯通状。膜电极的发电测试表明，以多孔纳米碳纤维作为微孔层（MPL-PCNF）的膜电极其最大功率密度达70.0mW/cm²，远高于炭黑颗粒为微孔层（MPL-CB）的膜电极（58.1mW/cm²），而没有微孔层（Ref）结构的膜电极最大功率密度仅为27.7mW/cm²，显示出PCNF作为微孔层材料的明显优势。

关键词: 微孔层, 多孔纳米碳纤维, 膜电极, 纳米材料, 燃料电池, 电化学

CLC Number:

TQ152

Linchang MAO, Junhong JIN, Shenglin YANG, Guang LI. Performance of porous carbon nanofibers as microporous layer for proton exchange membrane fuel cells[J]. Chemical Industry and Engineering Progress, 2020, 39(10): 3995-4001.

毛林昌, 金俊宏, 杨胜林, 李光. 多孔纳米碳纤维作为质子交换膜燃料电池微孔层的性能[J]. 化工进展, 2020, 39(10): 3995-4001.

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