Electrically Conductive, Hydrophilic Porous Membrane for Fuel Cell Applications, Phase I

Non-NASA applications for the conductive, microporous PES membrane are closely related to the NASA applications. For example, fuel cell system size and weight must be reduced and performance must be improved for sufficient saturation in the consumer market. The improvements in fuel cell performance resulting from the development of the conductive PES membrane could, for example, move fuel cell systems significantly closer to widespread utilization in the transportation industry. Improvements in regenerative fuel cell performance resulting from the use of the conductive, microporous PES membrane could also enhance the attractiveness of such systems for terrestrial renewable energy storage; for example, it could be possible to store renewable energy (i.e., wind and solar) for load leveling and off-peak demand applications. Successful completion of the Phase I effort will result in the development of microporous, conductive PES membrane for water/gas separation. Currently, electrode flooding of the fuel cell cathode is a major concern; this membrane would facilitate water transport away from the cathode and lead to a reduction in mass transfer limitations. Likewise, the conductive membrane would facilitate the transport of liquid water to the fuel cell anode, which would result in an improvement in performance. The advantages that would be realized by the use of such a membrane in fuel cell and electrolyzer systems include improved water management, which leads to an improvement in system performance, and may facilitate a smaller and lighter-weight system design. A smaller and lighter-weight RFC system would be advantageous for NASA missions because the cost of launching such devices is a strong function of weight, and size limitations favor smaller energy storage devices. More »