Proton exchange membrane fuel cell

Electric Current
e-

Fuel In

1.1 Reactions
For more details on this topic, see Fuel cell.

Air In
e-

A proton exchange membrane fuel cell transforms the

chemical energy liberated during the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen to electrical energy, as opposed to the direct combustion of hydrogen and oxygen
gases to produce thermal energy.

eH+

e-

H2
H+
Excess
Fuel Out

O2

A stream of hydrogen is delivered to the anode side of

the MEA. At the anode side it is catalytically split into
protons and electrons. This oxidation half-cell reaction
or hydrogen oxidation reaction (HOR) is represented by:
At the anode:

Unused
Air, Water,
H2O and Heat

The newly formed protons permeate through the polymer

electrolyte membrane to the cathode side. The electrons
travel along an external load circuit to the cathode side
of the MEA, thus creating the current output of the fuel
cell. Meanwhile, a stream of oxygen is delivered to the
cathode side of the MEA. At the cathode side oxygen
molecules react with the protons permeating through the
polymer electrolyte membrane and the electrons arriving
through the external circuit to form water molecules. This
reduction half-cell reaction or oxygen reduction reaction
(ORR) is represented by:

Anode
Cathode
Electrolyte
Diagram of a PEM fuel cell

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells, also known

as polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells
(PEMFC), are a type of fuel cell being developed for
transport applications as well as for stationary fuel cell applications and portable fuel cell applications. Their distinguishing features include lower temperature/pressure
ranges (50 to 100 C) and a special polymer electrolyte
membrane. PEMFCs operate on a similar principle to
their younger sister technology PEM electrolysis. They
are a leading candidate to replace the aging alkaline fuel
cell technology, which was used in the Space Shuttle.[1]

At the cathode:
Overall reaction:
The reversible reaction is expressed in the equation and
shows the reincorporation of the hydrogen protons and
electrons together with the oxygen molecule and the formation of one water molecule. The potentials in each case
are given with respect to the standard hydrogen electrode.

Science
1.2 Polymer electrolyte membrane

PEMFCs are built out of membrane electrode assemblies

(MEA) which include the electrodes, electrolyte, catalyst,
and gas diusion layers. An ink of catalyst, carbon, and
electrode are sprayed or painted onto the solid electrolyte
and carbon paper is hot pressed on either side to protect
the inside of the cell and also act as electrodes. The pivotal part of the cell is the triple phase boundary (TPB)
where the electrolyte, catalyst, and reactants mix and thus
where the cell reactions actually occur.[2] Importantly, the
membrane must not be electrically conductive so the half
reactions do not mix. Operating temperatures above 100
C are desired so the water byproduct becomes steam and
water management becomes less critical in cell design.

Main article: Polymer electrolyte membrane

To function, the membrane must conduct hydrogen ions
(protons) but not electrons as this would in eect "short
circuit" the fuel cell. The membrane must also not allow
either gas to pass to the other side of the cell, a problem known as gas crossover.[4][5] Finally, the membrane
must be resistant to the reducing environment at the cathode as well as the harsh oxidative environment at the anode.
Splitting of the hydrogen molecule is relatively easy by using a platinum catalyst. Unfortunately however, splitting
1

the oxygen molecule is more dicult, and this causes signicant electric losses. An appropriate catalyst material
for this process has not been discovered, and platinum is
the best option.
A cheaper alternative to platinum is Cerium(IV) oxide
catalyst used by the research group of professor Vladimr
Matoln in the development of PEMFC.[6][7][8]
The PEMFC is a prime candidate for vehicle and other
mobile applications of all sizes down to mobile phones,
because of its compactness. However, the water management is crucial to performance: too much water will
ood the membrane, too little will dry it; in both cases,
power output will drop. Water management is a very
dicult subject in PEM systems, primarily because water in the membrane is attracted toward the cathode of
the cell through polarization. A wide variety of solutions for managing the water exist including integration
of electroosmotic pumps. Furthermore, the platinum
catalyst on the membrane is easily poisoned by carbon
monoxide (no more than one part per million is usually acceptable) and the membrane is sensitive to things
like metal ions, which can be introduced by corrosion of
metallic bipolar plates, metallic components in the fuel
cell system or from contaminants in the fuel/oxidant.
PEM systems that use reformed methanol were proposed,
as in Daimler Chrysler Necar 5; reforming methanol, i.e.
making it react to obtain hydrogen, is however a very
complicated process, that requires also purication from
the carbon monoxide the reaction produces. A platinumruthenium catalyst is necessary as some carbon monoxide
will unavoidably reach the membrane. The level should
not exceed 10 parts per million. Furthermore, the startup times of such a reformer reactor are of about half an
hour. Alternatively, methanol, and some other biofuels
can be fed to a PEM fuel cell directly without being reformed, thus making a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC).
These devices operate with limited success.

1 SCIENCE
the membrane to transport protons. This implies that it is
not feasible to use temperatures above 80 to 90 C, since
the membrane would dry. Other, more recent membrane
types, based on polybenzimidazole (PBI) or phosphoric
acid, can reach up to 220 C without using any water
management: higher temperature allow for better eciencies, power densities, ease of cooling (because of
larger allowable temperature dierences), reduced sensitivity to carbon monoxide poisoning and better controllability (because of absence of water management issues
in the membrane); however, these recent types are not as
common.[9] PBI can be doped with phosphoric or sulfuric acid and the conductivity scales with amount of doping
and temperature.[10] At high temperatures, it is dicult to
keep Naon hydrated, but this acid doped material does
not use water as a medium for proton conduction. It also
exhibits better mechanical properties, higher strength,
than Naon and is cheaper. However, acid leaching is a
considerable issue and processing, mixing with catalyst to
form ink, has proved tricky. Aromatic polymers, such as
PEEK, are far cheaper than Teon (PTFE and backbone
of Naon) and their polar character leads to hydration
that is less temperature dependent than Naon. However,
PEEK is far less ionically conductive than Naon and thus
is a less favorable electrolyte choice.[11] Recently, protic
ionic liquids and protic organic ionic plastic crystals have
been shown as promising alternative electrolyte materials
for high temperature (100200 C) PEMFCs.[12] [13] [14]
1.2.1 Electrodes
In order to enable the electrochemical reactions at the
electrodes, protons, electrons and the reactant gases (hydrogen or oxygen) must gain access to the surface of the
catalyst in the electrodes, while the product water must be
able to permeate from the catalyst to the gas outlet. These
properties are typically realized by porous composits of
polymer electrolyte binder and catalyst nanoparticles supported on carbon particles.[15] Typically platinum is used
as the catalyst for the electrochemical reactions at the anode and cathode, while nanoparticles realize high surface
to weight ratios (as further described below) reducing the
amount of the costly platinum. The polymer electrolyte
binder provides the ionic conductivity, while the carbon
support of the catalyst improves the electric conductivity
and enables low platinum metal loading.[16] The electric
conductivity in the composite electrodes is typically more
than 40 times higher as the proton conductivity.[17]
1.2.2 Gas diusion layer

The GDL electrically connects the catalyst and current

collector. It must be porous, electrically conductive, and
thin. The reactants must be able to reach the catalyst, but
conductivity and porosity can act as opposing forces. OpThe most commonly used membrane is Naon by timally, the GDL should be composed of about one third
DuPont, which relies on liquid water humidication of Naon or 15% PTFE. The carbon particles used in the

1.3

Metal-Organic Frameworks

GDL can be larger than those employed in the catalyst

because surface area is not the most important variable in
this layer. GDL should be around 15-35 m thick to balance needed porosity with mechanical strength.[18] Often,
an intermediate porous layer is added between the GDL
and catalyst layer to ease the transitions between the large
pores in the GDL and small porosity in the catalyst layer.
Since a primary function of the GDL is to help remove
water, a product, ooding can occur when water eectively blocks the GDL. This limits the reactants ability
to access the catalyst and signicantly decreases performance. Teon can be coated onto the GDL to limit the
possibility of ooding.[11] Several microscopic variables
are analyzed in the GDLS such as: porosity, tortuosity
and permeability. These variables have incidence over
the behavior of the fuel cells.[19]

transport of ions is more favorable in disordered materials. On the other hand, pores can be lled with additional
ion carriers that ultimately enhance the ionic conductivity of the system and high crystallinity makes the design
process less complex.

trochemical characteristics. Among their many diverse

uses, MOFs are promising candidates for clean energy applications such as hydrogen storage, gas separations, supercapacitors, Li-ion batteries, solar cells, and fuel cells.
Within the eld of fuel cell research, MOFs are being
studied as potential electrolyte materials and electrode
catalysts that could someday replace traditional polymer
membranes and Pt catalysts, respectively.

A high temperature anhydrous example is PCMOF2,

which consists of sodium ions coordinated to a trisulfonated benzene derivative.[22] To improve performance
and allow for higher operating temperatures, water can
be replaced as the proton carrier by less volatile imidazole or triazole molecules within the pores. The maximum temperature achieved was 150 C with an optimum conductivity of 5 x 104 S/cm, which is lower
than other current electrolyte membranes. However, this
model holds promise for its temperature regime, anhydrous conditions, and ability to control the quantity of
guest molecules within the pores, all of which allowed for
the tunability of proton conductivity. Additionally, the

The general requirements of a good electrolyte for PEMFCs are: high proton conductivity (>102 S/cm for practical applications) to enable proton transport between electrodes, good chemical and thermal stability under fuel
cell operating conditions (environmental humidity, variable temperatures, resistance to poisonous species, etc.),
low cost, ability to be processed into thin-lms, and overall compatibility with other cell components.[20] While
polymeric materials are currently the preferred choice of
proton-conducting membrane, they require humidication for adequate performance and can sometimes physically degrade due to hydrations eects, thereby causing
losses of eciency. As mentioned, Naon is also lim1.2.3 Eciency
ited by a dehydration temperature of < 100 C, which
The maximal theoretical eciency applying the Gibbs can lead to slower reaction kinetics, poor cost eciency,
free energy equation G=237.13 kJ/mol and using the and CO poisoning of Pt electrode catalysts. Conversely,
heating value of Hydrogen (H=285.84 kJ/mol) is 83% MOFs have shown encouraging proton conductivities in
both low and high temperature regimes as well as over a
G
S
at 298 K. = H
= 1 TH
wide range of humidity conditions. Below 100 C and
The practical eciency of a PEMs is in the range of 40 under hydration, the presence of hydrogen bonding and
60% . Main factors that create losses are:
solvent water molecules aid in proton transport, whereas
anhydrous conditions are suitable for temperatures above
100 C. MOFs also have the distinct advantage of exhibit Activation losses
ing proton conductivity by the framework itself in addi Ohmic losses
tion to the inclusion of charge carries (i.e., water, acids,
etc.) into their pores.
Mass transport losses
A low temperature example is work by Kitagawa, et
al. who used a two-dimensional oxalate-bridged anionic
layer framework as the host and introduced ammonium
1.3 Metal-Organic Frameworks
cations and adipic acid molecules into the pores to in[21]
Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) are a relatively new crease proton concentration. The result was one of the
class of porous, highly crystalline materials that consist rst instances of3a MOF showing superprotonic conof metal nodes connected by organic linkers. Due to the ductivity (8 x 10 S/cm) at 25 C and 98% relative husimplicity of manipulating or substituting the metal cen- midity (RH). They later found that increasing the hyters and ligands, there are a virtually limitless number of drophilic nature of the cations introduced into the pores
possible combinations, which is attractive from a design could enhance proton conductivity even more. In this low
standpoint. MOFs exhibit many unique properties due temperature regime that is dependent on degree of hyto their tunable pore sizes, thermal stability, high vol- dration, it has also been shown that proton conductivity
ume capacities, large surface areas, and desirable elec- is heavily dependent on humidity levels.

As electrolyte materials, the inclusion of MOFs seems

at rst counter-intuitive. Fuel cell membranes generally
have low porosity to prevent fuel crossover and loss of
voltage between the anode and cathode. Additionally,
membranes tend to have low crystallinity because the

1 SCIENCE

triazole-loaded PCMOF2 was incorporated into a H2 /air

membrane-electrode assembly and achieved an open circuit voltage of 1.18 V at 100 C that was stable for 72
hours and managed to remain gas tight throughout testing.
This was the rst instance that proved MOFs could actually be implemented into functioning fuel cells, and the
moderate potential dierence showed that fuel crossover
due to porosity was not an issue.
To date, the highest proton conductivity achieved for a
MOF electrolyte is 4.2 x 102 S/cm at 25 C under humid conditions (98% RH), which is competitive with
Naon.[20] Some recent experiments have even successfully produced thin-lm MOF membranes instead of the
traditional bulk samples or single crystals, which is crucial for their industrial applicability. Once MOFs are able
to consistently achieve sucient conductivity levels, mechanical strength, water stability, and simple processing,
they have the potential to play an important role in PEMFCs in the near future.
MOFs have also been targeted as potential replacements
of platinum group metal (PGM) materials for electrode
catalysts, although this research is still in the early stages
of development. In PEMFCs, the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the Pt cathode is signicantly slower than
the fuel oxidation reaction at the anode, and thus nonPGM and metal-free catalysts are being investigated as
alternatives. The high volumetric density, large pore surface areas, and openness of metal-ion sites in MOFs make
them ideal candidates for catalyst precursors.[23] Despite
promising catalytic abilities, the durability of these proposed MOF-based catalysts is currently less than desirable and the ORR mechanism in this context is still not
completely understood.

current PEM fuel cells use platinum particles on porous

carbon supports to catalyze both hydrogen oxidation and
oxygen reduction. However, due to their high cost, current Pt/C catalysts are not feasible for commercialization.
The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that platinumbased catalysts will need to use roughly four times less
platinum than is used in current PEM fuel cell designs in
order to represent a realistic alternative to internal combustion engines.[24] Consequently, one main goal of catalyst design for PEM fuel cells is to increase the catalytic activity of platinum by a factor of four so that only
one-fourth as much of the precious metal is necessary to
achieve similar performance.
One method of increasing the performance of platinum
catalysts is to optimize the size and shape of the platinum particles. Decreasing the particles size alone increases the total surface area of catalyst available to participate in reactions per volume of platinum used, but recent studies have demonstrated additional ways to make
further improvements to catalytic performance. For example, one study reports that high-index facets of platinum nanoparticles (that is Miller indexes with large integers, such as Pt (730)) provide a greater density of reactive sites for oxygen reduction than typical platinum
nanoparticles.[25]

Since the most common and eective catalyst, platinum,

is extremely expensive, alternative processing is necessary to maximize surface area and minimize loading. Deposition of nanosized Pt particles onto carbon powder
(Pt/C) provides a large Pt surface area while the carbon
allows for electrical connection between the catalyst and
the rest of the cell. Platinum is so eective because it
has high activity and bonds to the hydrogen just strongly
enough to facilitate electron transfer but not inhibit the
hydrogen from continuing to move around the cell. How1.4 Catalyst research
ever, platinum is less active in the cathode oxygen reduction reaction. This necessitates the use of more platinum,
Much of the current research on catalysts for PEM fuel increasing the cells expense and thus feasibility. Many
cells can be classied as having one of following main potential catalyst choices are ruled out because of the exobjectives:
treme acidity of the cell.[11]
The most eective ways of achieving the nanoscale Pt
1. to obtain higher catalytic activity than the standard
on carbon powder, which is currently the best option, are
carbon-supported platinum particle catalysts used in
through vacuum deposition, sputtering, and electrodepocurrent PEM fuel cells
sition. The platinum particles are deposited onto carbon
2. to reduce the poisoning of PEM fuel cell catalysts paper that is permeated with PTFE. However, there is an
optimal thinness to this catalyst layer, which limits the
by impurity gases
lower cost limit. Below 4 nm, Pt will form islands on the
3. to reduce the cost of the fuel due to use of platinum- paper, limiting its activity. Above this thickness, the Pt
based catalysts
will coat the carbon and be an eective catalyst. To further complicate things, Naon cannot be inltrated beExamples of these approaches are given in the following yond 10 um, so using more Pt than this is an unnecessary
sections.
expense. Thus the amount and shape of the catalyst is
limited by the constraints of other materials.[18]
1.4.1

Increasing catalytic activity

A second method of increasing the catalytic activity of

platinum is to alloy it with other metals. For example,
As mentioned above, platinum is by far the most eective it was recently shown that the Pt3 Ni(111) surface has a
element used for PEM fuel cell catalysts, and nearly all

1.4

Catalyst research

higher oxygen reduction activity than pure Pt(111) by

a factor of ten.[26] The authors attribute this dramatic
performance increase to modications to the electronic
structure of the surface, reducing its tendency to bond
to oxygen-containing ionic species present in PEM fuel
cells and hence increasing the number of available sites
for oxygen adsorption and reduction.
Further eciencies can be realized using an Ultrasonic
nozzle to apply the platinum catalyst to the electrolyte
layer or to carbon paper under atmospheric conditions
resulting in high eciency spray.[27] Studies have shown
that due to the uniform size of the droplets created by this
type of spray, due to the high transfer eciency of the
technology, due to the non-clogging nature of the nozzle
and nally due to the fact that the ultrasonic energy deagglomerates the suspension just before atomization, fuel
cells MEAs manufactured this way have a greater homogeneity in the nal MEA, and the gas ow through the cell
is more uniform, maximizing the eciency of the platinum in the MEA.[28] Recent studies using inkjet printing to deposit the catalyst over the membrane have also
shown high catalyst utilization due to the reduced thickness of the deposited catalyst layers.[29]
Very recently, a new class of ORR electrocatalysts have
been introduced in the case of Pt-M (M-Fe[30] and Co)
systems with an ordered intermetallic core encapsulated
within a Pt-rich shell.[31] These intermetallic core-shell
(IMCS) nanocatalysts were found to exhibit an enhanced activity and most importantly, an extended durability compared to many previous designs. While the
observed enhancement in the activities is ascribed to a
strained lattice, the authors report that their ndings on
the degradation kinetics establish that the extended catalytic durability is attributable to a sustained atomic order.

1.4.2

Reducing poisoning

The other popular approach to improving catalyst performance is to reduce its sensitivity to impurities in the
fuel source, especially carbon monoxide (CO). Presently,
pure hydrogen gas is becoming economical to massproduce by electrolysis. However, at the moment
hydrogen gas is produced by steam reforming light
hydrocarbons, a process which produces a mixture of
gases that also contains CO (13%), CO2 (1925%), and
N2 (25%).[32] Even tens of parts per million of CO can
poison a pure platinum catalyst, so increasing platinums
resistance to CO is an active area of research.
For example, one study reported that cube-shaped platinum nanoparticles with (100) facets displayed a fourfold
increase in oxygen reduction activity compared to randomly faceted platinum nanoparticles of similar size.[33]
The authors concluded that the (111) facets of the randomly shaped nanoparticles bonded more strongly to
sulfate ions than the (100) facets, reducing the number of

5
catalytic sites open to oxygen molecules. The nanocubes
they synthesized, in contrast, had almost exclusively (100)
facets, which are known to interact with sulfate more
weakly. As a result, a greater fraction of the surface area
of those particles was available for the reduction of oxygen, boosting the catalysts oxygen reduction activity.
In addition, researchers have been investigating ways of
reducing the CO content of hydrogen fuel before it enters a fuel cell as a possible way to avoid poisoning the
catalysts. One recent study revealed that rutheniumplatinum coreshell nanoparticles are particularly eective at oxidizing CO to form CO2 , a much less harmful
fuel contaminant.[34] The mechanism that produces this
eect is conceptually similar to that described for Pt3 Ni
above: the ruthenium core of the particle alters the electronic structure of the platinum surface, rendering it better able to catalyze the oxidation of CO.
1.4.3 Lowering cost
The challenge for the viability of PEM fuel cells today
still remains in their cost and stability. The high cost
can in large part be attributed to the use of the precious
metal of platinum in the catalyst layer of PEM cells. The
electrocatalyst currently accounts for nearly half of the
fuel cell stack cost.[35] Although the Pt loading of PEM
fuel cells has been reduced by two orders of magnitude
over the past decade,[36] further reduction is necessary to
make the technology economically viable for commercialization. Whereas some research eorts aim to address this issue by improving the electrocatalytic activity of Pt-based catalysts, an alternative is to eliminate the
use of Pt altogether by developing a non-platinum-groupmetal (non-PGM) cathode catalyst whose performance
rivals that of Pt-based technologies. The U.S. Department of Energy has been setting milestones for the development of fuel cells, targeting a durability of 5000 hours
and a non-PGM catalyst ORR volumetric activity of 300
A cm3 [37]
Promising alternatives to Pt-based catalysts are
Metal/Nitrogen/ Carbon-catalysts (M/N/C-catalysts). To
achieve high power density, or output of power over surface area of the cell, a volumetric activity of at least 1/10
that of Pt-based catalysts must be met,[35] along with
good mass transport properties. While M/N/C-catalysts
still demonstrate poorer volumetric activities than Ptbased catalysts, the reduced costs of such catalysts allows
for greater loading to compensate. However, increasing
the loading of M/N/C-catalysts also renders the catalytic
layer thicker, impairing its mass transport properties.
In other words, H2 , O2 , protons, and electrons have
greater diculty in migrating through the catalytic layer,
decreasing the voltage output of the cell. While high
microporosity of the M/N/C catalytic network results
in high volumetric activity, improved mass transport
properties are instead associated to macroporosity of the
network. These M/N/C materials are synthesized using

4 SEE ALSO

high temperature pyrolysis and other high temperature 3 History

treatments of precursors containing the metal, nitrogen,
and carbon.[38]
Before the invention of PEM fuel cells, existing fuel
Recently, researchers have developed a Fe/N/C catalyst cell types such as solid-oxide fuel cells were only apderived from iron (II) acetate (FeAc), phenanthroline plied in extreme conditions. Such fuel cells also re(Phen), and a metal-organic-framework (MOF) host. The quired very expensive materials and could only be used
MOF is a Zn(II) zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF) for stationary applications due to their size. These iscalled ZIF-8, which demonstrates a high microporous sues were addressed by the PEM fuel cell. The PEM fuel
surface area and high nitrogen content conducive to ORR cell was invented in the early 1960s by Willard Thomas
[40]
activity.[35] The power density of the FeAc/Phen/ZIF-8- Grubb and Leonard Niedrach of General Electric. Ini2
catalyst was found to be 0.75 W cm at 0.6 V. This value tially, sulfonated polystyrene membranes were used for
is a signicant improvement over the maximal 0.37 W electrolytes, but they were replaced in 1966 by Naon
cm2 power density of previous M/N/C-catalysts and is ionomer, which proved to be superior in performance and
much closer to matching the typical value of 1-1.2 W durability to sulfonated polystyrene.
cm2 for Pt-based catalysts with a Pt loading of 0.3 mg PEM fuel cells were used in the NASA Gemini series of
cm2 . The catalyst also demonstrated a volumetric activ- spacecraft, but they were replaced by Alkaline fuel cells
ity of 230 A cm3 , the highest value for non-PGM cata- in the Apollo program and in the Space shuttle.
lysts to date,[35] approaching the U.S. Department of EnParallel with Pratt and Whitney Aircraft, General Electric
ergy milestone.
developed the rst proton exchange membrane fuel cells
While the power density achieved by the novel (PEMFCs) for the Gemini space missions in the early
FeAc/Phen/ZIF-8-catalyst is promising, its durabil- 1960s. The rst mission to use PEMFCs was Gemini
ity remains inadequate for commercial application. It is V. However, the Apollo space missions and subsequent
reported that the best durability exhibited by this catalyst Apollo-Soyuz, Skylab and Space Shuttle missions used
still had a 15% drop in current density over 100 hours in fuel cells based on Bacons design, developed by Pratt and
H2 /air.[35] Hence while the Fe-based non-PGM catalysts Whitney Aircraft.
rival Pt-based catalysts in their electrocatalytic activity,
there is still much work to be done in improving their Extremely expensive materials were used and the fuel
cells required very pure hydrogen and oxygen. Early
durability.
fuel cells tended to require inconveniently high operating
temperatures that were a problem in many applications.
However, fuel cells were seen to be desirable due to the
large amounts of fuel available (hydrogen and oxygen).

Applications

Due to their light weight, PEMFCs are most suited for

transportation applications. PEMFCs for buses, which
use compressed hydrogen for fuel, can operate at up to
40% eciency. Generally PEMFCs are implemented on
buses over smaller cars because of the available volume
to house the system and store the fuel. Technical issues
for transportation involve incorporation of PEMs into
current vehicle technology and updating energy systems.
Full fuel cell vehicles are not advantageous if hydrogen
is sourced from fossil fuels; however, they become benecial when implemented as hybrids. There is potential
for PEMFCs to be used for stationary power generation,
where they provide 5 kW at 30% eciency; however,
they run into competition with other types of fuel cells,
mainly SOFCs and MCFCs. Whereas PEMFCs generally require high purity hydrogen for operation, other fuel
cell types can run on methane and are thus more exible
systems. Therefore, PEMFCs are best for small scale systems until economically scalable pure hydrogen is available. Furthermore, PEMFCs have the possibility of replacing batteries for portable electronics, though integration of the hydrogen supply is a technical challenge particularly without a convenient location to store it within
the device.[39]

Despite their success in space programs, fuel cell systems

were limited to space missions and other special applications, where high cost could be tolerated. It was not until
the late 1980s and early 1990s that fuel cells became a
real option for wider application base. Several pivotal innovations, such as low platinum catalyst loading and thin
lm electrodes, drove the cost of fuel cells down, making development of PEMFC systems more realistic.[41]
However, there is signicant debate as to whether hydrogen fuel cells will be a realistic technology for use in
automobiles or other vehicles. (See hydrogen economy.)

4 See also
Power-to-weight ratio
Dynamic hydrogen electrode
Gas diusion electrode
Hydrogen sulde sensor
Reversible hydrogen electrode
Glossary of fuel cell terms
Timeline of hydrogen technologies

References

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Systems, Inc., Proton Exchange Member (PEM) Fuel
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[2] Millington, Ben, Shangfeng Du, and Bruno G. Pollet.
The Eect of Materials on Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Electrode Performance. Journal of Power
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[3] Bratsch, Stephen G. (1989). Standard Electrode Potentials and Temperature Coecients in Water at 298.15 K.
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[4] Schalenbach, Maximilian; Hoefner, Tobias; Paciok, Paul;
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[5] Schalenbach, Maximilian; Hoeh, Michael A.; Gostick,
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[9] Lee, J. S.; et al. (2006). Polymer electrolyte membranes
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6 External Links
Gas diusion layer and catalyst layer, 3D animation
Fuel Cell elements, 3D animation

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

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Proton exchange membrane fuel cell Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton_exchange_membrane_fuel_cell?oldid=724688213

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