The state-of-the-art of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology is based on perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymer membranes operating at a typical temperature of 80 °C. Some of the key issues and shortcomings of the PFSA-based PEMFC technology are briefly discussed. These include water management, CO poisoning, hydrogen, reformate and methanol as fuels, cooling, and heat recov...

The possibility of implementing fuel cell technology in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) propulsion systems is considered. Potential advantages of the Proton Exchange Membrane or Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEMFC) and Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC), their fuels (hydrogen and methanol), and their storage systems are revised from technical and environmental standpoints. Some operating commercia...

The CO preferential oxidation (PrOx) is one of the critical steps in hydrogen production and purification for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC). This reaction was investigated in the presence of excess hydrogen over Cu/CeO2, Pt/CeO2 and Cu-Pt/CeO2 catalysts. The ceria supports was prepared via precipitation method and Cu-Pt/CeO2 catalyst was synthesized by sequential impregnation o...

This paper reviewed over 100 articles on the subject of the mechanism of catalyst layer (CL) degradation and the effect of various contaminations in the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Also the recovery of PEMFC via different types of methods, the causes and fundamental mechanisms of cell degradation and their influence on long- term performance of PEM fuel cell were discussed i...

The use of Cs0.5H0.5PW12O40 insoluble salt as a superacid promoter in the catalyst layer of a polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) has been investigated. An increase of performance has been recorded at intermediate temperatures (110–130 °C) and under low relative humidity (R.H.). The promoter appears to mitigate the ionomer dry-out effects in the catalytic layer and produces an increa...

Among fuel cell technologies, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have gained momentum at a strong pace in small to medium scale energy generation (e.g., mobile applications, transportation, etc). Historically, the development of polymer electrolytes has gone through several stages: from ionic polymers of poly(ethylene oxide)-salt complexes, polystyrene sulfonate polymers, to perfl...

Three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics in house-code of a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) has been developed. The conservation equations are numerically solved using finite volume technique. One of the important goals of this research is the investigation of the variation of bipolar plates width effect on the fuel cell performance compared with the conventional m...

Concerns over increasing energy consumption coupled with the diminishing supply of fossil-fuels have led to increased research and development in several forms of alternate energy, among which is the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. One of the primary obstacles that must be overcome in the development of PEMFC’s is the source of hydrogen. PEMFC’s are extremely intolerant to impurit...

In situ X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) at the Pt L(3) edge is a useful probe for Pt-O interactions at polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) cathodes. We show that XAS using the high energy resolution fluorescence detection (HERFD) mode, applied to a well-defined monolayer Pt/Rh(111) sample where the bulk penetrating hard X-rays probe only surface Pt atoms, provides a unique sensit...

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) directly convert the chemical energy of the reactants into electrical energy and usually consist of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) sandwiched between two catalyst layers (CLs), two porous gas diffusion layers (GDLs) often coated with a microporous layer (MPL) on the CL side, and two bipolar plates with embedded gas channels. Protons and electro...