Comparison of Characteristics and Performance of Membrane in Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

In the proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), the development of a reinforced membrane with improved durability by a support is actively in progress in Korea. In this study, the initial performance and characteristics of four types of reinforced membranes were compared. Reinforced membranes with higher amounts of C-F chains in the polymer membrane showed lower water diffusion coefficients due to the hydrophobicity of the C-F chains. The thicker the polymer membrane, the more the hydrogen permeability decreased and the higher the OCV. Membrane with short resistance below 1.5 Omega cm(2) showed OCV below 0.9 V and the lowest performance, so short resistance should be above 3.0 Omega cm(2). Compared with the current standard membrane, there was a similar domestic membrane, which could confirm the possibility of localization of PEMFC polymer membrane.