Fuel Cell Membrane Materials

Dear Colleagues,

The fuel cell industry grows around the world, creating a multibillion dollar market opportunity, augmented by increasing environmental and climate change concerns which add momentum for implementation of various greenhouse gas reduction strategies. The fuel cells’ promise of clean emissions and the governmental incentives draw automakers, despite the slow expansion of the hydrogen infrastructure and surging investments in competing electric cars. Many believe that fuel cell vehicles will also solve the recharging issues BEVs face today.

Polymer membrane-based, low temperature fuel cells, fed with methanol or hydrogen, seem to attract the most attention. While many critical technological bottlenecks delaying their market maturity have been tackled, there still exist issues that need to be addressed, including cost reduction and improvement of performance and durability of the two key components, the catalytic electrodes and the membrane. Proper membrane characteristics are strategically important for achieving the desired overall fuel cell performance. Although significant progress in PEM and DMFC membrane R&D has been made in the last two decades, the state of the art membranes are still far from being perfect and require continued development.

Understanding the importance of the above subject, we have decided to publish a focused Special Issue of Materials, solely devoted to fuel cell membranes. The main objective of this Special Issue is to accelerate research and widespread deployment of fuel cells by providing a forum for exchange of the latest innovations in ion-conducting membrane materials.

We welcome papers addressing a range of topics associated with low- and medium-temperature (<200 °C) fuel cell membrane materials, both proton- and hydroxide-conducting. Especially encouraged are contributions regarding novel approaches addressing low humidity/elevated temperature operation, radical scavenging, reduced reactant crossover, self-hydration, improved durability (including alkaline stability), membrane characterization methods, as well as cost-effectiveness. Exciting, new findings on enhancements of membrane performance through chemistry or morphological control will be given special attention.

We invite fuel cell membrane researchers to contribute original studies as well as review articles, and we await exciting and stimulating submissions, possibly pushing the boundaries of fuel cell membranology.

Dr. Ryszard Wycisk
Guest Editor

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• fuel cell membrane
• polymer electrolyte
• ionomer
• ion-conducting polymer
• PEM
• alkaline membrane