Recent advances in phosphoric acid-based membranes for high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells

High-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) are pursued worldwide as efficient energy conversion devices. Great efforts have been made in the area of designing and developing phosphoric acid (PA)-based proton exchange membrane (PEM) of HT-PEMFCs. This review focuses on recent advances in the limitations of acid-based PEM (acid leaching, oxidative degradation, and mechanical degradation) and the approaches mitigating the membrane degradation. Preparing multilayer or polymers with continuous network, adding hygroscopic inorganic materials, and introducing PA doping sites or covalent interactions with PA can effectively reduce acid leaching. Membrane oxidative degradation can be alleviated by synthesizing crosslinked or branched polymers, and introducing antioxidative groups or highly oxidative stable materials. Crosslinking to get a compact structure, blending with stable polymers and inorganic materials, preparing polymer with high molecular weight, and fabricating the polymer with PA doping sites away from backbones, are recommended to improve the membrane mechanical strength. Also, by comparing the running hours and decay rate, three current approaches, 1. crosslinking via thermally curing or polymeric crosslinker, 2. incorporating hygroscopic inorganic materials, 3. increasing membrane layers or introducing strong basic groups and electron-withdrawing groups, have been concluded to be promising approaches to improve the durability of HT-PEMFCs. The overall aim of this review is to explore the existing degradation challenges and opportunities to serve as a solid basis for the deployment in the fuel cell market. (C) 2021 Science Press and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by ELSEVIER B.V. and Science Press. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Efforts to design and develop phosphoric acid-based proton exchange membrane for high-temperature fuel cells have been made globally. Various approaches, including crosslinking, introducing antioxidative groups, and incorporating inorganic materials, have been proposed to mitigate the degradation of the membranes. Crosslinking, blending with stable polymers and inorganic materials, and preparing polymers with high molecular weight are recommended to improve membrane mechanical strength. Three promising approaches to improve the durability of HT-PEMFCs include crosslinking, incorporating hygroscopic inorganic materials, and increasing membrane layers or introducing strong basic groups and electron-withdrawing groups.