Preparation and Characterization of Nafion-Zirconia Composite Membrane for PEMFC

Polymer electrolyte membrane based on Nafion and zirconium oxide (ZrO2) was developed via film casting method. The content of ZrO2 (1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 wt.%) was incorporated with Nafion solution to prepare Nafion-ZrO2 composite membranes. Recast Nafion membrane was used as reference material. All of the prepared membranes have been subjected to both physical and chemical characterizations such as Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) analysis, water uptake rate (WUR) and conductivity measurements. The Nafion-ZrO2 composite membranes were found to possess high thermal stability (Tg= 188 - 192°C) and conductivity (0.30 – 0.93 S cm-1). This study demonstrates the possibility of developing Nafion-ZrO2 composite membrane as promising polymer electrolyte membrane for fuel cell operated at medium temperature and low humidity.