I. Introduction 1.1 Introduction 1 1.2 Types of fuel cells 3 1.3 Polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) 1.3.1 Principle and component of PEFC 4 1.3.2 Performance of PEFC 6 1.4 Proton exchange membrane (PEM) 1.4.1 Requirements of PEM 8 1.4.2 Water management 8 1.4.3 Absorbed water in PEM 9 1.4.4 Mechanism of proton transport 9 1.4.5 Membrane degradation 11 1.4.6 The status of modification for PFSA membrane 13 1.5 Objective of research 14
II. Experimental 2.1 Pyrochlore Zirconium Gadolinium Oxide nanotubes composite membrane 2.1.1 Materials 15 2.1.2 Preparation of Zirconium-Gadolinium /PAN electrospun mat 15 2.1.3 Preparation of Zirconium-Gadolinium Oxide Nanotubes 15 2.1.4 Preparation of Nafion-ZrGdNT composite membrane 16 2.2 Modified catalyst layer containing Pyrochlore Zirconium Gadolinium Oxide nanotubes 2.2.1 Fabrication of the Nafion ionomer containing ZrGdNT 17 2.2.2 Electrochemical characterization 17 2.3 ZrGdNT Characterization 18 2.4 The membrane characterization 2.4.1 The water uptake of membrane 19 2.4.2 Measurement of ion exchange capacity 19 2.4.3 Oxidative stability investigation 19 2.4.4 Thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA) 20 2.4.5 Tensile strength test 20 2.4.6 Proton conductivity 20 2.5 Fuel cell performance test 21
III. Results and discussion 3.1 Pyrochlore Zr2Gd2O7 nanotubes composite membrane 3.1.1 Characterization of Pyrochlore Zr2Gd2O7 nanotubes (ZrGdNT) 24 3.1.2 Characterization of Nafion ZrGdNT composite membrane 27 3.1.3 Effect of ZrGdNT 38 3.1.4 Membrane durability 41 3.2 Modified catalyst layer containing Pyrochlore Zr2Gd2O7 nanotubes 3.2.1 Modified catalyst layer with ZrGdNT 45 3.2.2 The effect of modified catalyst layer with ZrGdNT on fuel cell performance 49 3.2.3 The durability evaluation of advanced MEA 59
