Preparation and characterization of sulfated zirconia (SO42−/ZrO2)/Nafion composite membranes for PEMFC operation at high temperature/low humidity

Fine particle superacidic sulfated zirconia (SO42−/ZrO2, S-ZrO2) was synthesized by ameliorated method, and composite membranes with different S-ZrO2 contents were prepared by a recasting procedure from a suspension of S-ZrO2 powder and Nafion solution. The physico-chemical properties of the membranes were studied by ion exchange capacity (IEC) and liquid water uptake measurements, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, thermogravimetry–mass spectrometry (TG–MS) and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The results showed that the IEC of composite membrane increased with the content of S-ZrO2, S-ZrO2 was compatible with the Nafion matrix, the incorporation of the S-ZrO2 could increase the crystallinity and also improve the initial degradation temperature of the composite membrane. The performance of single cell was the best when the S-ZrO2 content was 15 wt.%, and achieved 1.35 W/cm2 at 80 °C and 0.99 W/cm2 at 120 °C based on H2/O2 and at a pressure of 2 atm, the performance of the single cell with optimized S-ZrO2 was far more than that of the Nafion at the same condition (e.g. 1.28 W/cm2 at 80 °C, 0.75 W/cm2 at 120 °C). The 15 wt.% S-ZrO2/Nafion composite membrane showed lower fuel cell internal resistance than Nafion membranes at high temperature and low relative humidity (RH).