Materials for Fuel Cell Membranes

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) continue to receive a great deal of interest as an energy source for many practical applications and in particular to those related to the automotive industry. Among the different research directions, developing inexpensive and high-performing membrane materials for PEMFC has been identified as a key approach for reducing the cost of the technology, increasing its applications, and satisfying the other technical and economic demands of the consumers. The membranes’ material should possess a combination of complex features including high proton conductivity; good mechanical, thermal, and chemical stability, low gas permeability, and moderate prices. Despite being commercialized and widely used, Nafion-based membranes feature many drawbacks and researchers are still working actively to find alternative membrane materials that can provide an adequate balance between the performance and cost. In this article, an overview of the different PEMFC membrane materials is given. The properties, performance, and challenges of the membrane materials were compared and the future research directions were outlined.