ANR-Nanostructured Ionomers and membranes with controlled architectures for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

质子交换膜燃料电池领域占世界燃料电池商业需求的最大份额，这一领域将在未来5年内大幅增长。总部位于加拿大的技术制造商在这个市场上占据了不成比例的巨大份额，但竞争正在加剧。为了保持竞争力，燃料电池制造商必须降低材料成本。很多人关注的是降低铂的需求，最终完全消除它们。然而，互补的挑战仍然存在，需要重新设计构成燃料电池核心的材料，即膜电极组件。目前选择的质子交换膜（PEM）和催化剂层中的固体电解质的技术标准是全氟磺酸（PFSA）离聚体家族。尽管它无处不在，但它是昂贵的，需要使用控制和危险的单体，并且在低相对湿度和/或高温下会失去导电性。不含全氟聚合物骨架的替代材料是大规模生产燃料电池装置的长期解决方案。要解决这个问题，还需要对催化剂层进行补充检查和重新设计。催化剂层中的质子导电聚合物在纳米催化剂和质子交换膜之间传递质子，这在燃料电池的运行中起着重要作用。该提案解决了开发质子导电介质的挑战，这种介质不需要使用氟含量低得多的聚合物骨架，并且具有足够的通用性，是替代现有全氟材料的可行候选材料。该提案的重点是研究一类被称为含氟磺酸的聚芳醚的材料的合成和开发。该提案将西蒙弗雷泽大学的材料科学和燃料电池专业知识与法国国家科学研究中心和CEA的国际领先材料科学家以及汽车燃料电池合作公司的燃料电池专业知识结合起来。

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell sector accounts for the largest share of world commercial demand for fuel cells, a sector that will increase considerably over the next 5 years. Canadian-based technology manufacturers account for a disproportionally large share of this market but competition is growing. To remain competitive, fuel cell manufacturers must reduce materials costs. Much is focused on lowering Pt requirements, ultimately, removing them altogether. Nonetheless, complementary challenges exist that require a re-design of the materials that constitute the heart of the fuel cell, i.e., the membrane-electrode assembly. The current technical standard of choice for the proton exchange membrane (PEM) and for the solid electrolyte in the catalyst layer are the family of perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomers. Despite its ubiquitousness it is costly and requires the use of controlled and dangerous monomers, and it suffers from a loss of conductivity at low relative humidity and/or elevated temperatures. Alternative materials that do not possess perfluorinated polymer backbones are required for a long term solution to mass production of fuel cell devices. A solution to this problem also requires complementary examination and re-design of the catalyst layer - the proton conducting polymer in the catalyst layer that transfers protons between the nanocatalyst and the proton exchange membrane - which plays a significant role in fuel cell operation.This proposal addresses the challenge of developing proton conducting media that do not require the use of polymer backbones possessing much lower fluorine content, and which are sufficiently versatile to be viable candidates to replace existing perfluorinated materials. The proposal focuses on researching the synthesis and development of a class of materials known as the polyarylene ethers bearing fluorosulfonic acid. The proposal partners the materials science and fuel cell expertise at Simon Fraser University, with internationally-leading, materials scientists at CNRS and CEA, and the fuel cell expertise at Automotive Fuel Cell Collaboration Corp.