Durable hydrocarbon-based fuel cell membranes

由于所有部门对零排放运输系统的需求日益迫切，氢燃料电池在全球范围内正获得巨大的发展势头。然而，燃料电池电动汽车的大规模采用仍然需要显著降低成本和提高耐用性，特别是对于重型汽车。分隔两个燃料电池电极的离聚体膜是这一困境的震中，是规模上的昂贵组件，也容易过早失效。还有人担心这种应用中通常使用的氟化膜对环境的影响，因为有毒的、生物积累的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，实现降低成本的一个有希望的途径是研究低成本、无氟的膜来取代燃料电池中使用的传统材料。然而，由于燃料电池环境的稳定性和耐久性较差，过去引入替代膜的尝试都失败了。拟议研究的总体目标是解决和克服目前用于聚合物电解质燃料电池应用的新出现的无氟膜的稳定性和耐久性障碍。燃料电池耐久性被认为是这些突破性材料剩下的最后一个研究前沿，将在本项目中使用深入的科学方法来解决，旨在开启社会对该技术的广泛采用和使用。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 Innovation之间建立新的大学-行业研究伙伴关系，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。具体地说，这一合作伙伴关系将把FCReL在燃料电池耐用性方面的丰富专业知识和研究工具与Ionomr的新兴、高性能碳氢离子材料以及相关专业知识和技术知识结合起来。

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.