Novel catalyst-coated membrane with modified electrode hydrophilicity-hydrophobicity for proton exchange membrane fuel cell application

• Main Author: Khoo, Yin Le
• Other Authors: Zhou WeiJiang
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2018
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering; DRNTU::Engineering::Mechanical engineering::Alternative, renewable energy sources
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/75646
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

With the depletion of fossil fuel in the next 100 years and countries not wanting to rely on oil-producing countries, sustainability, clean energy and alternative energy have been one of the biggest topics in recent years. Many countries such as China and Japan have been actively looking and investing into new clean energy research in hopes of finding a long-term energy solution. Being one of the candidates on the top of the list of clean energy research, Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells is one of the most popular alternatives given its broad mobile and stationary applications as well as it's easy to meet operating requirements. However, for many years there have been various problems that hinder the overall performance of PEMFC with one of the most major issues being flooding in the cathode channel. This is due to water produced as a by-product during power generation. Many types of research have been focusing on improving the water drainage of the system such as increasing the flow channel and increasing the hydrophobicity of the Nafion membrane and is still in search of the best method to do so. In this research, the main objective is to improve the hydrophobicity of the Catalyst-Coated Membrane through the addition of hydrophobic additives in the catalyst layer and finding the optimal quantity of such additives.