Modeling the effect of membrane conductivity on the performance of alkaline fuel cells

The present work proposes and demonstrates a methodology to capture the effect of operating conditions on ionic conductivity of membranes immersed in alkaline media. Based on reported experimental results for an anion exchange membrane (A-201 by Tokuyama) and a cation exchange membrane (Nafion 211), two novel expressions are developed for the ionic conductivity by incorporating the effects of solution concentration and temperature. The expression for the cationic conductivity is applied in a cell-level model to predict the performance of an alkaline direct borohydride fuel cell; it is found that the membrane ionic conductivity significantly affects the cell performance and capturing its functionality is essential to accurately predict the fuel cell performance.