Degradation Mitigation in Polymer Electrolyte Membranes Using Cerium Oxide as a Regenerative Free-Radical Scavenger

The efficacy of CeO 2 nanoparticles in mitigating free-radical-induced polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) degradation is investigated. Commercially obtained CeO 2 and nanoparticles synthesized in-house were incorporated within a recast Nafion membrane. Membrane electrode assemblies were prepared using Nafion and Nafion-CeO 2 composite membranes (0.5, 1, and 3 wt % CeO 2 ). The composite membranes exhibited very similar proton conductivities (∼35 mS/cm) and hydrogen crossover (∼ 1 mA/cm 2 ) as Nafion. However, the fluoride emission rate (from accelerated tests) was lowered by more than 1 order of magnitude upon addition of CeO 2 into the Nafion membrane, suggesting that CeO 2 nanoparticles have tremendous potential to greatly enhance membrane durability.

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