Durable hydrocarbon-based fuel cell membranes

氢燃料电池在全球范围内获得了巨大的发展势头，因为所有行业对零排放运输系统的需求日益迫切。然而，燃料电池电动车辆的大规模采用仍然需要显著的成本降低和耐久性改进，特别是对于重型车辆。分离两个燃料电池电极的离聚物膜处于这种困境的中心，是大规模的昂贵组件，也容易过早失效。还存在对通常用于该应用的氟化膜的环境影响的担忧，因为有毒的生物累积氟废物可能对人类健康和自然生态系统产生不利影响。因此，降低成本的一个有前途的途径是研究低成本的无氟膜，以取代燃料电池中使用的传统材料。然而，过去引入替代膜的尝试由于在燃料电池环境中的差的稳定性和耐久性而失败。拟议研究的首要目标是解决和克服聚合物电解质燃料电池应用中新兴无氟膜目前的稳定性和耐久性障碍。燃料电池的耐久性被认为是这些突破性材料的最后一个研究前沿，并将在本项目中使用深入的科学方法加以解决，旨在解锁该技术的广泛社会采用和使用。该项目将在西蒙弗雷泽大学（SFU）燃料电池研究实验室（FCReL）和Ionomr Innovations之间形成新的大学-行业研究合作伙伴关系，涵盖所需的专业知识，设施和知识转化，以产生变革性的结果和成果。具体而言，该合作伙伴关系将融合FCReL在燃料电池耐久性方面的丰富专业知识和研究工具，以及Ionomr新兴的高性能碳氢离聚物材料和相关专业知识和技术知识。

Hydrogen fuel cells are gaining significant momentum worldwide due to the increasingly urgent need for zero-emission transportation systems across all sectors. Large-scale adoption of fuel cell electric vehicles, however, still requires significant cost reductions and durability improvements, in particular for heavy duty vehicles. The ionomer membrane that separates the two fuel cell electrodes is at the epicentre of this dilemma, being a costly component at scale, which is also susceptible to premature failure. There are also concerns about the environmental impacts of the fluorinated membranes that are typically used in this application, as toxic, bio-accumulating fluorine waste may adversely affect human health and natural ecosystems. A promising route to achieving cost reduction is therefore to investigate low-cost, fluorine-free membranes to replace the conventional materials used in fuel cells. However, past attempts to introduce alternative membranes have failed due to poor stability and durability in the fuel cell environment. The overarching goal of the proposed research is to address and overcome the present stability and durability impediments of emerging, fluorine-free membranes for polymer electrolyte fuel cell applications. Fuel cell durability is considered the last remaining research frontier for these breakthrough materials and will be addressed in this project using an in-depth scientific approach, targeting to unlock broad societal adoption and use of the technology. The project will form a new university-industry research partnership between Simon Fraser University (SFU) Fuel Cell Research Lab (FCReL) and Ionomr Innovations, covering the required expertise, facilities, and knowledge translation to generate transformative results and outcomes. Specifically, this partnership will merge FCReL's vast expertise and research tools on fuel cell durability with Ionomr's emerging, high-performing hydrocarbon ionomer materials and related expertise and technical knowledge.