The Effect of Heteropoly Acids on Stability of PFSA PEMs under Fuel Cell Operation

Abstract

Membranes were cast from mixtures of the 3M perfluorinated sulfonic acid ionomer [side chain ] and various heteropoly acids (HPAs) at a 10 or doping level. Membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) fabricated from these membranes were subjected to a fuel cell testing protocol from 70 to under relatively dry conditions, dew point of , to avoid leaching of the HPA. The most significant finding was that the more stable HPAs, , , and , reduce the rate of by over half and improve the power of the MEA by 9% under these conditions.