Tianjin University scientists are working hard to build a "highway" for fuel cells

Perhaps one day, the batteries of our mobile phones or laptops will no longer be recharged but add "fuel", the standby time can be increased several times, and the performance will be better. This seems a bit weird, and this kind of battery that can add "fuel" anytime and anywhere is just one of the key research directions in the field of renewable energy related to national economy and people's livelihood. A research result of foreign professors Michael D. Guiver and Associate Professor Yin Yan from the State Key Laboratory of Internal Combustion Engine Combustion, School of Mechanical Engineering, Tianjin University is expected to advance this idea.

At present, the research team has successfully prepared a novel oriented composite proton exchange membrane with proton channels oriented in the direction of the membrane transmission surface. When this kind of proton exchange membrane is applied to a fuel cell, it is like constructing a "highway" inside the battery, which realizes the short-path efficient transmission of protons and greatly improves the power output of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell.

Mankind is in an era of energy transformation. Fuel cell is known as the fourth generation of electric power development technology after thermal power, hydraulic power and nuclear power. It is a fast and reliable energy conversion device that can directly convert the chemical energy of fuel into electrical energy.

In recent years, research results on proton exchange membrane fuel cells have been widely used in many aspects of daily life, technological products, national defense construction, etc., such as mobile electronic devices such as mobile phones and notebook computers, electric vehicles, regional power stations, submarines, and space shuttles. power supply. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells have shown great application value and development prospect to the world.

When protons are conducted in the exchange membrane, the shorter the path, the more time-saving. Time-saving means high efficiency, and high efficiency connects cost and performance. If it is possible to construct a tortuous, short-path proton channel arranged in the direction of the membrane transmission surface in the proton exchange membrane, the efficiency of proton transmission will be greatly improved. Inspired by this, unlike the solution casting method commonly used in the preparation of proton exchange membranes, the team of Michael Gaffer and Associate Professor Yin Yan added the aid of a magnetic field during the film making process, using ferricyanide coordination polymers and phosphotungstic acid The formed paramagnetic complex has an oriented short-path efficient proton transmission channel in the direction of the transmission surface of the proton exchange membrane.

Fortunately, through the compounding of ferrocyanide coordination polymer and phosphotungstic acid, this film-making method also solves the scientific problem that water-soluble phosphotungstic acid easily oozes out in the polymer matrix.

In addition, through the redox cycle of the ferrocyanide group in the ferricyanide coordination polymer, the proton exchange membrane can continuously consume free radicals in the system during battery operation, so that the application durability of the membrane is improved. Compared with other existing hydrocarbon-based proton exchange membranes and Nafion 212 membranes as industry standards, this oriented proton exchange membrane has more obvious advantages and potentials in terms of proton conductivity, fuel cell energy output and service life.

Related papers were published online in Nature-Communication on February 19, 2019. Postdoctoral researcher Liu Xin is the first author, Professor Michael Gaffer and Associate Professor Yin Yan are co-corresponding authors. The Tianjin Key Laboratory of Chemical and Chemical Innovation and the Tianjin University of Technology jointly established the State Key Laboratory of Separation Membrane and Membrane Process as a cooperative unit. (Reporter Hu Chunyan Correspondent Liu Xiaoyan)

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