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Optimizing membrane pretreatment for improved performance of anion exchange membrane-unitized regenerative fuel cells

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Abstract

Anion exchange membranes (AEMs) play a critical role in anion exchange membrane-unitized regenerative fuel cells (AEM-URFCs). In this study, we investigated the effect of different membrane treatment processes on the performance of AEM-URFCs. By replacing bromide ions (Br−) with hydroxyl ions (OH−), we were able to greatly enhance cell performance. We treated a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) with KOH solutions of varying solvents and concentrations, which caused the AEM to swell and replace Br− ions with OH− ions. We found that the concentration of OH− ions in the KOH solution had a significant impact on Br− ion replacement. The MEA treated with 1.0 M KOH in a mixture of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) and deionized water (H2O) (25/75 vol%) had the lowest Br− ion content and exhibited a current density of 215.0 mA cm−2 at 0.5 V (fuel cell mode) and 65.0 mA cm−2 at 2.0 V (water electrolyzer mode). These findings can inform future research on AEM-based fuel cells and water electrolyzers by identifying an optimal membrane pretreatment process.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT) (No. 2021R1I1A3057906 & 2020R1I1A3A04037514), the Human Resources Program for the EV industrial cluster, Gunsan City, and the Ministry of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) and Startups (MSS) under the “Regional Specialized Industry Development Plus Program (R&D, S3266473)” supervised by the Korea Technology and Information Promotion Agency (TIPA).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Kunsan National University, Jeonbuk, 54150, South Korea

    Md. Masud Rana, Palanisamy Rajkumar, Beom-Soo Kang & Joongpyo Shim

  2. Department of Chemistry, Kunsan National University, Jeonbuk, 54150, South Korea

    Gyungse Park

  3. Department of Material Science and Engineering, Kunsan National University, Jeonbuk, 54150, South Korea

    Ho-Jung Sun

  4. Department of Chemical Engineering Education, Graduate School of Energy Science and Technology, Chungnam National University, Daejeon, 34134, South Korea

    So Yeon Kim

  5. Fuel Cell Regional Innovation Center, Woosuk University, Jeonbuk, 55315, South Korea

    Hong-Ki Lee

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  1. Md. Masud Rana
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Contributions

MR, PR, B-SK conducted experiment and analysis, GP and H-J characterized samples for physical properties, SYK and H-KL analyzed samples by FT-IR and ionic conductivity, and JS supervised entire research. All authors contributed to write and review the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Joongpyo Shim.

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Rana, M.M., Rajkumar, P., Kang, BS. et al. Optimizing membrane pretreatment for improved performance of anion exchange membrane-unitized regenerative fuel cells. J Appl Electrochem 54, 53–63 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-023-01950-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10800-023-01950-8

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