A Californian firm is claiming to have the first viable
alternative for costly Nafion membranes in methanol fuel cells.
“This is the first hydrocarbon fuel cell membrane that is
a drop-in replacement for fluorocarbon membranes such as Du
Pont’s Nafion in existing fuel cell MEA [membrane electrode
assembly] manufacturing processes,” claimed Mountain
View-based PolyFuel.
PTFE-based Nafion and its close relations have been the mainstay
of methanol fuel cell membranes, which pass protons but block
electrons. Many materials have been touted as low-cost or
better-performing replacements, but few have got beyond the
starting gate.
A year ago, PolyFuel announced a commercial hydrocarbon-based
membrane for portable direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC), one that
was not compatible with the hot-bonding process used in some MEA
assembly techniques.
Now it claims to have one with a low-enough melting point to be
compatible. “Fuel cell manufacturers can now utilise our new
membrane as a drop-in replacement for Nafion or other fluorocarbon
membranes in their existing MEA fabrication processes,” said
PolyFuel’s CEO James Balcom.
As a fuel cell company, PolyFuel’s claims should be taken
seriously, according to Imperial College fuel cell specialist Dr
Anthony Kucernak. “In terms of membranes, it is one of the
leaders,” he told Electronics Weekly. If the
membrane turns out to be as good as the firm says, “it could
be one of the things that could drop the cost of fuel
cells”.
www.polyfuel.com