SBIR Phase I: Nanocomposite Ionomers and Proton Exchange Membranes

The broader impact of this SBIR Phase I project advances the translation of hydrogen technologies in heavy duty and ultra-duty applications. The hydrogen economy could generate an estimated $2.5 T in economic value in the manufacturing, transportation, energy storage, and building energy, sectors. Current membranes that require high humidity levels and low temperatures for operation complicates fuel cell thermal and water management components in heavy duty fuel cell systems. The proposed solution advances the development of a new membrane serving as a drop-in replacement to enable low humidity and elevated operating temperatures. This SBIR Phase I project will use porous polymer supports to translate a nanocomposite material that exhibits both low humidity and elevated temperature proton conductivity into a standardized solution for a proton exchange membranes. Furthermore, the composite materials will be added at high volume fractions to confer additional benefits in mechanical stability and lower gas permeability. The project activities include material translation into supported membranes, membrane composite formulation optimization, measurements of key membrane properties, and demonstration in a fuel cell stack. If successful, the project would yield new proton exchange membranes that enable operation under low humidity – elevated temperature conditions to simplify fuel cell systems while extending system durability. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.