Proton Conducting Nanocomposite Membranes Based on Poly Vinyl Alcohol (PVA) / Glutaraldehyde (GA) for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

In the present work, BaCe0.85Yb0.15O3-δ mixed metal oxide nanoparticles supplying strong acid sites and good hydrophilic nature were used for the first time to build organic-inorganic proton exchange membranes. Poly(vinyl alcohol) - BaCe0.85Yb0.15O3-δ (PVAYb) nanocomposite membranes were fabricated. Different analyses such as Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and ThermoGravimetry Analysis (TGA) were used to characterize and study the structural properties of the obtained membranes. SEM and EDX analyses exhibited a homogenous dispersion of the nanoparticles in the nanocomposite membrane.  It was found that PVAYb1.5 had a better elemental distribution compared to PVAYb2.5 composite membrane. PVAYb nanocomposite membrane containing 1.5 wt.% of BaCe0.85Yb0.15O3-δ nanoparticles displayed a high proton conductivity value (64 mS/cm) at 70 °C operation temperature. The peak power density of 29 mW/cm2 was obtained with a peak current density of 210 mA / cm2 for as-prepared Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) equipped with PPYb1.5 nanocomposite membrane at 70 °C.