Nondestructive evaluation of acoustic properties of fuel cell proton-exchange membranes by vector contrast acoustic microscopy

In recent years, the interest in the research and development of "green energy" has increased dramatically, with numerous research grants and investment in the areas of wind power, solar power and fuel cell technology. We present results obtained from the evaluation of the acoustic properties of proton-exchange membranes used in hydrogen fuel cells, which relate directly to the microelastic properties of such membranes. These properties play an important role in the durability and applicability as well as the efficiency of such membranes. DuPont Nafion membranes are the most commonly used polymeric membranes in hydrogen/oxygen fuel cells and are therefore used as examples in this study. The microscope used in this non-destructive characterization study is a vector-contrast version of the scanning acoustic microscope which yields images in magnitude- and phase contrast.

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