A Comparative Study of Water Uptake By and Transport Through Ionomeric Fuel Cell Membranes

Water uptake and transport parameters measured at 30°C for several available perfluorosulfonic acid membranes are compared. The water sorption characteristics, diffusion coefficient of water, electroosmotic drag, and protonic conductivity were determined for Nafion® 117, Membrane C, and Dow XUS 13204.10 developmental fuel cell membrane. The diffusion coefficient and conductivity of each of these membranes were determined as functions of membrane water content. Experimental determination of transport parameters, enables us to compare membranes without the skewing effects of extensive features such as membrane thickness which contributes in a nonlinear fashion to performance in polymer electrolyte fuel cells.