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Updated: Aug 13, 2026
07:55
Ion-Exchange Membranes for the Fabrication of Reverse Electrodialysis Device
Published on: July 20, 2021
Adsorption-Engineered Hydrocarbon Ionomers for Durable Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells
Heemin Park1, Kate Chen1, Su Min Ahn1
1MPA-11, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico, USA.
Advanced Materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.)
|August 12, 2026
Summary
Developing durable, high-performance proton-exchange membrane fuel cells without perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) is crucial. This study introduces adsorption-engineered hydrocarbon ionomers to prevent degradation, significantly enhancing fuel cell electrode longevity and performance.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Electrochemistry
- Chemical Engineering
Background:
- Proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells require durable ionomers, but current perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) face environmental concerns.
- Hydrocarbon ionomers offer a PFAS-free alternative but struggle with long-term durability in catalyst layers.
- Oxidative degradation at the ionomer-catalyst interface is a key failure mechanism in hydrocarbon ionomer-bonded cathodes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify dominant failure pathways in hydrocarbon ionomer-based PEM fuel cell cathodes.
- To develop an adsorption-engineering strategy to enhance ionomer-catalyst interfacial stability and durability.
- To create high-performance, PFAS-free PEM fuel cell electrodes.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of commercial sulfonated poly(phenylene) (Pemion) and engineered sulfonated poly(fluorene)s.
- Investigated the relationship between ionomer adsorption strength and oxidative degradation resistance on Pt/C catalysts.
- Accelerated potential cycling tests to evaluate cathode durability.
Main Results:
- Engineered sulfonated poly(fluorene) ionomers with mobile alkyl sulfonic acid groups formed resilient interfaces.
- Achieved comparable performance to Pemion (1.28 A cm-2 at 0.65 V) with improved durability.
- Poly(fluorene)-bonded cathodes showed only 29% performance loss after 90,000 cycles, compared to 58% for Pemion; further refinement reduced loss to 17%.
Conclusions:
- Adsorption-engineered ionomer design is a viable strategy for durable, high-performance, PFAS-free PEM fuel cell electrodes.
- Decoupling interfacial anchoring from oxidative degradation enhances electrode longevity.
- This approach offers a pathway to overcome limitations of current hydrocarbon ionomers in fuel cell applications.
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