A high-temperature anion-exchange membrane fuel cell

• Main Authors: John C. Douglin, John R. Varcoe, Dario R. Dekel
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier 2020-10-01
• Series: Journal of Power Sources Advances
• Subjects: High-temperature anion-exchange membrane; Fuel cells; High temperature; Hydroxide conductivity; AEMFC; HT-AEMFC
• Online Access: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666248520300238

In the past few years, developments in anion exchange membranes (AEMs) have led to a significant increase in hydroxide conductivities, ultimately yielding striking improvements in the performance of anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) at low operating temperatures, usually at 40–80 °C. Aside from these remarkable achievements, the literature is void of any work on AEMFCs operated at temperatures above 100 °C, despite the consensus from various models remarking that working at higher cell temperatures may lead to many significant advantages. In this work, we present the first high-temperature AEMFC (HT-AEMFC) tested at 110 °C. The HT-AEMFC exhibits high performance, with a peak power density of 2.1 W cm−2 and a current density of as high as 574 mA cm−2 measured at 0.8 V. This initial work represents a significant landmark for the research and development of the fuel cell technology, opening a wide door for a new field of research we call hereafter, HT-AEMFCs.