Recent developments in fuel-processing and proton-exchange membranes for fuel cells

In recent years, great progress has been made in the development of proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) for both mobile and stationary applications. This review covers two types of new membranes: (1) carbon dioxide-selective membranes for hydrogen purification and (2) proton-exchange membranes; both of these are crucial to the widespread application of PEMFCs. On hydrogen purification for fuel cells, the new facilitated transport membranes synthesized from incorporating amino groups in polymer networks have shown high CO2 permeability and selectivity versus H-2. The membranes can be used in fuel processing to produce high-purity hydrogen (with less than 10 ppm CO and 10 ppb H2S) for fuel cells. On proton-exchange membranes, the new sulfonated polybenzimidazole copolymer-based membranes can outperform Nafion (R) under various conditions, particularly at high temperatures and low relative humidities. (C) 2010 Society of Chemical Industry