Comparative Studies of Atomically Thin Proton Conductive Films to Reduce Crossover in Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Hydrogen fuel cells based on proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) technology are promising as a source of clean energy to power a decarbonized future. However, PEMFCs are limited by a number of major inefficiencies; one of the most significant is hydrogen crossover. In this work, we comprehensively study the effects of two-dimensional (2D) materials applied to the anode side of the membrane as H₂ barrier coatings on Nafion to reduce crossover effects on hydrogen fuel cells, while studying adverse effects on conductivity and catalyst performance in the beginning of life testing. The barrier layers studied include graphene, hexagonal boron nitride (hBN), amorphous boron nitride (aBN), and varying thicknesses of molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂), all chosen due to their expected stability in a fuel cell environment. Crossover mitigation in the materials studied ranges from 4.4% (1 nm MoS₂) to 46.1% (graphene) as compared to Nafion 211. Effects on proton conductivity are also studied, suggesting high areal proton transport in materials previously thought to be effectively nonconductive, such as 2 nm MoS₂ and amorphous boron nitride under the conditions studied. The results indicate that a number of 2D materials are able to improve crossover effects, with those coated with 8 nm MoS₂ and 1 L graphene able to achieve greater crossover reduction while minimizing conductivity penalty.