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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Gaurav GuptaORCiD, Emeritus Professor Keith Scott, Professor Mohamed MamloukORCiD
This is the authors' accepted manuscript of an article that has been published in its final definitive form by Wiley - VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 2018.
For re-use rights please refer to the publisher's terms and conditions.
A soluble ionomer based on styrene‐ethylene/butylene‐styrene (SEBS) block polymer was synthesized with an ion exchange capacity (IEC) of 1.91 mmol g−1 and OH− ion conductivity at 100% relative humidity (RH) of 0.14 and 0.18 S cm−1 at 50 and 70 °C, respectively. The performance of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with SEBS ionomer was highest compared to polyvinyl benzyl chloride (PVBC) and Acta I2 ionomers at 0.5 V at both 50 °C (239 mW cm−2) and 70 °C (285 mW cm−2) using air and low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) membrane. This was largely due to the lower charge transfer resistance measured for the MEA using SEBS ionomer which is due to higher IEC, better water uptake and water retention properties. Ionomer water permeability is also critical for the back diffusion and the membrane where SEBS ionomer showed large advantage over PVBC ionomer.The long‐term testing of 50 h at 50 and 70 °C also showed better durability of the SEBS compared to the commercial Acta I2 ionomer with an average performance loss of 3 mA h−1 at 50 °C. The MEAs tested at 70 °C failed after 15 h (Acta I2) and 25 h (SEBS) due to pin‐hole formation in the membrane.
Author(s): Gupta G, Scott K, Mamlouk M
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: Fuel Cells
Year: 2018
Volume: 18
Issue: 2
Pages: 137-147
Print publication date: 01/04/2018
Online publication date: 02/04/2018
Acceptance date: 20/02/2018
Date deposited: 11/04/2018
ISSN (print): 1615-6846
ISSN (electronic): 1615-6854
Publisher: Wiley - VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA
URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/fuce.201700176
DOI: 10.1002/fuce.201700176
Data Access Statement: http://dx.doi.org/10.17634/138124-4
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