Polymer electrolyte membrane for fuel cell, membrane electrode assembly and fuel cell including the same

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9385388-B2
Application number	US-201214115838-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 5, 2012
Priority date	Jun 16, 2011
Publication date	Jul 5, 2016
Grant date	Jul 5, 2016

Abstract

Disclosed are a polymer electrolyte membrane for fuel cells and a membrane electrode assembly and fuel cell including the same. The polymer electrolyte membrane includes a fluorine-based cation exchange resin having proton conductivity and fibrous nanoparticles having a hydrophilic group. By using the fluorine-based cation exchange resin having proton conductivity and the fibrous nanoparticles having a hydrophilic group in combination, performance of a fuel cell including the polymer electrolyte membrane is not deteriorated and the polymer electrolyte membrane prevents gases from permeating thereinto and has enhanced durability for extended use. A fuel cell including the above-described polymer electrolyte membrane is provided.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A polymer electrolyte membrane for fuel cells, comprising a fluorine-based cation exchange resin having proton conductivity and fibrous nanoparticles having a hydrophilic group,
wherein the fibrous nanoparticles have a hydrophilic group, have a diameter of 10 to 200 nm and a length of 1 to 20 μm, and have an aspect ratio of 1:5 to 1:2,000, and
wherein the fibrous nanoparticles having the hydrophilic group are cellulose-based nanofibers.

2. The polymer electrolyte membrane according to claim 1 , wherein the fluorine-based cation exchange resin having proton conductivity and the fibrous nanoparticles having a hydrophilic group are mixed in a weight ratio of 99.9:0.1 to 95:5.

3. The polymer electrolyte membrane according to claim 1 , wherein the fibrous nanoparticles having a hydrophilic group are prepared using a microfluidizer.

4. The polymer electrolyte membrane according to claim 1 , wherein a hydroxyl group of the cellulose-based nanofibers is present in an amount of 5 to 90% with respect to a total site of the hydroxyl group.

5. The polymer electrolyte membrane according to claim 1 , wherein the cellulose-based nanofibers are at least one selected from the group consisting of cellulose nanofibers, hydroxyl groups of which are unsubstituted, cellulose nanofibers substituted with an acetyl group or a derivative thereof, cellulose sulfate nanofibers, cellulose phosphate nanofibers, and cellulose nanofibers substituted with a C1-C10 alkyl group or a derivative thereof.

6. The polymer electrolyte membrane according to claim 5 , wherein the cellulose-based nanofibers are at least one selected from the group consisting of cellulose nanofibers, hydroxyl groups of which are unsubstituted, cellulose nanofibers substituted with an acetyl group or a derivative thereof, cellulose sulfate nanofibers, cellulose phosphate nanofibers, and cellulose nanofibers substituted with a C2-C6 alkyl group or a derivative thereof.

7. The polymer electrolyte membrane according to claim 1 , wherein the fluorine-based cation exchange resin having proton conductivity is a polymer having, at a side chain thereof, at least one cation exchange group selected from the group consisting of a sulfonic acid group, a carboxylic acid group, a phosphoric acid group, a phosphonic acid group, and derivatives thereof.

8. The polymer electrolyte membrane according to claim 1 , wherein the fluorine-based cation exchange resin having proton conductivity is a perfluorosulfonic acid resin.

9. The polymer electrolyte membrane according to claim 1 , wherein the fluorine-based cation exchange resin having proton conductivity is included in an amount of 30 to 99 wt % based on a total weight of the cation exchange resin having proton conductivity.

10. A membrane electrode assembly for fuel cells, comprising an anode, a cathode facing the anode, and the polymer electrolyte membrane according to claim 1 disposed therebetween.

11. A fuel cell comprising:
at least one electricity generator comprising the membrane electrode assembly according to claim 10 and at least one separator and generating electricity through electrochemical reaction of a fuel and an oxidizing agent;
a fuel feeder to feed the fuel to the electricity generator; and
an oxidizing agent feeder to feed the oxidizing agent to the electricity generator.

Assignees

• Sung Kyung A
• Kim Hyuk
• Choi Seong Ho
• Lee Sang Woo
• Noh Tae Geun
• Kim Do Young
• Min Min Kyu
• Lg Chemical Ltd

Inventors

• Sung Kyung A
• Kim Hyuk
• Choi Seong Ho
• Lee Sang Woo
• Noh Tae Geun
• Kim Do Young
• Min Min Kyu

Classifications

• H01M8/1053

  consisting of layers of polymers with at least one layer being ionically conductive · CPC title

• D01F2/00

  Monocomponent artificial filaments or the like of cellulose or cellulose derivatives; Manufacture thereof · CPC title

• D01F2/28

  from organic cellulose esters or ethers, e.g. cellulose acetate · CPC title

• H01M8/1051 Primary

  Non-ion-conducting additives, e.g. stabilisers, SiO2 or ZrO2 · CPC title

• H01M8/1058

  characterised by a porous support having no ion-conducting properties · CPC title