Degradation Mitigation in Polymer Electrolyte Membranes Using Cerium Oxide as a Regenerative Free-Radical Scavenger

The efficacy of nanoparticles in mitigating free-radical-induced polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) degradation is investigated. Commercially obtained and nanoparticles synthesized in-house were incorporated within a recast Nafion membrane. Membrane electrode assemblies were prepared using Nafion and composite membranes (0.5, 1, and ). The composite membranes exhibited very similar proton conductivities and hydrogen crossover as Nafion. However, the fluoride emission rate (from accelerated tests) was lowered by more than 1 order of magnitude upon addition of into the Nafion membrane, suggesting that nanoparticles have tremendous potential to greatly enhance membrane durability.