GEOC 150 |
| Serguei N. Lvov1, Mark V. Fedkin1, Elena Chalkova2, Deepak K. Jayabalan2, and David J. Wesolowski3. (1) The Energy Institute & Department of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering, The Pennsylvania State University, 207 Hosler, University Park, PA 16802, (2) The Energy Institute & Department of Energy and Geo-Environmental Engineering, Penn State University, 207 Hosler, University Park, PA 16802, (3) Chemical Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831-6110 |
| Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are considered to be one of the most promising sources of electrical energy, and proton conducting polymers such as Nafion have been extensively studied for use in PEMFCs. However, Nafion is limited to operating temperatures below 100 °C due to the tendency of the membrane to dehydrate. Previously obtained high-temperature surface chemistry data and modeling results for the titania/water interface were used to analyze possible performance of titania microparticles in a composite titania/Nafion proton exchange membrane. It was experimentally found that the composite membrane exhibits higher proton conductivity compared to pure Nafion in a wide temperature range from 20 to 140 oC and this observation correlates with the experimentally measured water uptake. We conclude that the titania/Nafion composite membrane can be considered as a promising material to be used in high-temperature PEMFCs. |
|
Interfacial Phenomena: Linking Atomistic and Macroscopic Properties
8:05 AM-11:30 AM, Wednesday, March 31, 2004 Marriott -- Marquis NW, Oral
Division of Geochemistry |