Ozonated Monolayer Graphene for Extended Performance and Durability in Hydrogen Fuel Cell Electric Vehicles

In the landscape of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), there is a strong need for durable, low hydrogen crossover membranes that retain high current output and proton conductivity during operation. This study presents the use of UV-Ozone induced defects in graphene to eliminate the proton conductivity penalty commonly associated with traditional crossover mitigation strategies. We report a defect engineered graphene material that demonstrates an increase in hydrogen/proton selectivity of 27%, a decrease in H2 crossover of 24%, with limited to no impact on current output. Furthermore, we demonstrate a membrane that is 39% more durable than state of the art GORE Select membranes and shows no loss in performance after a 100 h accelerated stress test (AST). This study illustrates the viability of 2D material membranes to sieve between H2 and H3O+ in industrial testing conditions and serve as highly scalable and durable fuel cell membranes that represent a significant upgrade over current state of the art membranes for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and clean energy generation.