The effect of membrane thickness on the conductivity of Nafion

The conductivity of fully hydrated Nafion 112, 1135, 115 and 117 membranes was measured via ac impedance spectroscopy and steady-state current–potential measurements both in symmetric H2, Pt|Nafion|Pt, H2 and D2, Pt|Nafion|Pt, D2 PEM cells and in H2, Pt|Nafion|Pt, air and D2, Pt|Nafion|Pt, air PEM fuel cells. In agreement with recent studies, it was found that the conductivity, σ, increases almost linearly with membrane thickness L   and also depends exponentially on potential and almost linearly on PH21/2. These and other observations, including the strong isotope effect obtained upon switching between H2 and D2 at the anode, show that the conductivity of Nafion contains two components, one due to proton migration in the aqueous phase, the other due to proton tunneling between adjacent sulfonate groups in narrow pores. The observed near-linear increase of σ with L is consistent with the proton tunneling mechanism but can also be explained by the existence of skin layers with lower conductivity at the ionomer interfaces with the anode and cathode.