Preparation and evaluation of a novel self-humidifying Pt/PFSA composite membrane for PEM fuel cell

A novel self-humidifying Pt/PFSA membrane for polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells has been developed. Platinum nanocrystals were dispersed gradationally in the membrane by equilibrium impregnation-reduction (I-R) method. The physical characteristics of the novel self-humidifying PEM were studied by those methods of XRD and XPS, and electrochemical Performances of the self-humidifying Pt/PFSA membrane and PFSA membrane compared in 5 cm2 single cells with 0.3 Pt mg/cm2 platinum loading. The results indicated that Pt distribution in the Pt/PFSA composite membrane was gradient degression from one side to the opposite side, and average size of Pt is about 6 nm. The peak power density of the Pt/PFSA cell reached over 1.2 W/cm2 at 70 °C, 0.2 MPa with dry hydrogen and dry oxygen.