Investigation of an alternative sulfonated silane in ceramic carbon electrodes for fuel cell applications

The fabrication of an ideal electrode material for fuel cell application that can maintain an optimal water content in both low and high relative humidity (RH) conditions has been studied by many research groups. Previous work by Eastcott et. al has shown great promise when using sulfonated ceramic carbon electrodes (CCEs) on the cathode of a PEMFC in low relative humidity (RH) environments though increased water retention. Through the sol-gel method the use of tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and a small amount of 3-(trihydroxysilyl) propane-1- sulfonic acid (TPS) as the ionomer demonstrated increased porosity, better durability, and better fuel cell performance at low RH when compared to the traditional Nafion ionomer material. In this work the sulfonated CCE material developed by Eastcott and Easton will be replaced with a more ion conductive sulfonated organosilane monomer component. TPS was replaced with 4-(2-(trihydroxysilyl)ethyl) benzenesulfonic acid (TEBS) and mixed with TEOS and compared to the previous TPS/TEOS system as well as the traditional Nafion ionomer electrode. The sulfonated CCEs were characterized using BET surface area analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, SEM, and TEM. The electrodes were then evaluated in both halfcell and full cell environments. Half-cell data showed an increased ECSA with TEBS when compared to the Nafion ionomer, while full cell data determined a decreased performance at both high and low relative humidities through polarization curves when compared to the TPS/TEOS and Nafion ionomers. The results obtained have determined that an optimization of the sulfonated to unsolfonated ratio has to be altered in order to gain a performance similar to that of the TPS based ionomer. The total silane loading was then decreased while the TEBS loading was increased and this showed an increase in fuel cell performance more comparable to the TPS/TEOS ionomer system.

Name thesis:degree_name

Master of Science (MSc)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Materials Science

Grantor

University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2015

Author dc:creator

• Reid, O'Rian Omar

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Easton, Brad

• Fuel cells
• CCE
• TEBS
• TPS

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

https://hdl.handle.net/10155/581

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:ontariotechu.scholaris.ca:10155/581