Preparation and Application Research of Super Absorbent Polymer Membrane for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

As an important application scenario of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), the development of low-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (LT-PEMFC) for drones is attracting attention. The operating conditions of the PEMFC used by drones are relatively special. The hydrogen and air used as raw materials are dry gas without humidification. To meet this requirement, it is necessary to develop a proton exchange membrane with water retention capacity. We first synthesized a polymer with high water retention (PAAAM), used the solution casting method to form composite membranes, blended it into Nafion solution, and studied the content of PAAAM. Subsequently, we characterized each composite membrane by FT-IR, SEM, proton conductivity, water uptake, swelling ratio and other properties. Then we tested the battery output performance. The final results show that the optimum operating temperature range of Nafion proton exchange membrane is 50-55℃ when the raw material is dry air and dry hydrogen. When the amount of PAAAM added is 1.0wt%, the Nafion-based composite membrane (NFPAM1) has better battery performance. When the battery temperature is 55℃, the dry hydrogen gas, and the dry air flow rate are 0.1 L·min−1 and 0.55 L·min−1, respectively, the highest power density of PEMFC using NFPAM1 composite membrane is 691 mW·cm−2.