Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 719–727

www.elsevier.com/locate/renene

Challenges and future developments in proton exchange

membrane fuel cells
Kamaruzzaman Sopian a,*, Wan Ramli Wan Daud b
a
Department of Mechanical and Material Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM Bangi,
Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
b
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia,
43600 UKM Bangi, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia
Available online 17 October 2005

Abstract

Fuel cell system is an advanced power system for the future that is sustainable, clean and environmental
friendly. The importance of fuel cell as the future power system is discussed in the light of future fossil fuel
depletion, impending international law on green house gases control and the national renewable energy
policy. The modern development of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) for the last 20 years
is then briefly reviewed and the current status of international and national research and development of this
type of are established. The review also discuss the remaining research and development issues that still
need to be resolved before these fuel cells are available for commercial application. The main thrust in
PEMFC research and development is to lower the cost of the fuel cell by reduction in membrane and
electrocatalyst costs. Although Europe, USA, Canada and Japan are leading fuel cell research and
development as commercialization, it is not too late for Malaysia to master this technology and to apply it to
niche markets in the future.
q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell; Research and development trends; Bipolar plates; System design;
Commercialization; Issues and challenges

1. Introduction

The first working fuel cell was invented by Sir William Grove in 1843 by reacting oxygen and
hydrogen on separate platinum electrodes that were immersed in dilute sulfuric acid inside five
cells of a gas voltaic battery and using the current produced to electrolyze water in another
similar cell. Fuel cell technology was too crude and inefficient then and could not compete with

* Corresponding author. Tel.: C60 3 89216405; fax: C60 3 89252546.

E-mail addresses: [email protected] (K. Sopian), [email protected] (W.R. Wan Daud).

0960-1481/$ - see front matter q 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.renene.2005.09.003
720 K. Sopian, W.R. Wan Daud / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 719–727

the dynamo invented by von Siemen. Since then, there have been several attempts to apply it for
more than 100 years but none was very successful. In the 1920s, early German fuel cell
research developed primitive carbonate and solid oxide fuel cells and from 1932 to 1959,
Francis T. Bacon developed a fuel cell that used alkaline electrolyte and nickel electrodes [1].
It was only after a more efficient design of the fuel cell was made in the 1960s for the Gemini
and Apollo space missions that fuel cell technology came of age. General Electric produced the
fuel cell powered electrical power system for NASA’s Gemini and Apollo space capsules that
also provides drinking water for the crew. In developing the fuel cell technology, NASA funded
more than 200 research contracts that finally brought the technology to a level now more viable
for commercial application.
Fossil fuel reserves are finite and will be depleted in 70–150 years time. By the year 2015, the
world fossil fluid fuel demand will outstrip the world fossil fluid fuel production (Fig. 1) and will
precipitate an energy shortage crisis unless a sustainable alternative fuel will be available by
then and will also face an energy shortage crisis in 2015 [2]. In addition, continued use of fossil
fuels will generate green house gases that will cause global warming and climate change. The
Kyoto protocol that regulates the reduction of green house gases has now become a binding
international law when its ratification was approved by the Russian Republic. Solar and
hydrogen energy could also be used but at a much lower total capacity. The contribution from
both solar and hydrogen energy will grow in the future as the shortfall between the demand and
the production of energy resources grow. While hydrogen powered internal combustion engines
will continue to be used in the near term, the fuel cell will slowly be introduced first in hybrid
power systems but ultimately in the long term in hydrogen energy systems at the advent of the so
called hydrogen economy.

1000
1 EJ = 1018 J
A B
FLUID FOSSIL FUEL PRODUCTION /

C
100
DEMAND IN EJ/yr

10

LEGEND A : World Fluid Fossil Fuel Production

0.1
B : World Fluid Fossil Fuel Demand Projection
C : World Fluid Fossil Fuel Production Projection

0.01
1980 1990 2000 2010 2020 2030 2040 2050 2060 2070 2080 2090 2100
YEAR

Fig. 1. Fluid (petroleum & natural gas) fossil fuel world production/demand estimates.
 K. Sopian, W.R. Wan Daud / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 719–727 721

Air reacts at cathode

½O2 + 2H+ + 2e– water
– Cathode
e
Electrolyte Heat H+
anode
Anode Anode
load
Electrol yte
cathode
cathode
H2 reacts at anode
½O2 + 2H+ + 2e– water Water

Fig. 2. A proton exchange membrane fuel cell.

2. The fuel cell

The fuel cell as shown in Fig. 2 is an electrochemical energy conversion device that converts
chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen into electricity and heat by electrochemical redox
reactions at the anode and the cathode of the cell, respectively, that produces water as the only
byproduct. It is the chemical engineering way of producing energy.
The fuel cell has a high-energy conversion efficiency of more than 40–50% that is higher than
a coal fired power station or an internal combustion engine. It has no moving parts apart from the
air and fuel blowers and is therefore more reliable and less noisy, has a lower maintenance cost
and a long operating life compared to an equivalent coal-fired power station or internal
combustion engine. Its modular compact design enables the consumer to increase or decrease

Table 1
Types of fuel cells

Fuel cell Temperature (8C) Efficiency (%) Application Advantages Disadvantages

Alkaline fuel 50–90 50–70 Space application High efficiency Intolerant to CO2
cell (AFC) in impure H2 and
air, corrosion,
expensive
Phosphoric acid 175–220 40–45 Stand-alone & Tolerant to Low power den-
fuel cell combined heat & impure H2, sity, corrosion &
(PAFC) power commercial sulfur poisoning
Molten carbon- 600–650 50–60 Central, stand- High efficiency, Electrolyte
ate fuel cell alone & com- near commer- instability, cor-
(MCFC) bined heat & cial rosion & sulfur
power poisoning
Solid oxide fuel 800–1000 50–60 Central, stand- High efficiency High temperature,
cell (SOFC) alone & com- & direct fossil thermal stress fail-
bined heat & fuel ure, coking & sul-
power fur poisoning
Polymer 60–100 40–50 Vehicle & porta- High power Intolerant to CO in
electrolyte ble density, low impure H2 and
membrane fuel temperature expensive
cell (PEMFC)
Direct metha- 50–120 25–40 Vehicle & small No reforming, Low efficiency,
nol fuel cell portable high power methanol cross-
(DMFC) density & low over & poisonous
temperature byproduct
722 K. Sopian, W.R. Wan Daud / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 719–727

power by simply adding or removing the modules to the required power without having to
redesign and reconstruct the whole plant. It is a clean technology and therefore, has very low
chemical pollution. It could use pure hydrogen fuel or a variety of primary fuels such as natural
gas and methanol that could be used directly or used to produce the hydrogen fuel instead. In a
high temperature fuel cell, combined heat and power would increase its efficiency.
There are six main types of fuel cell of commercial importance: alkaline fuel cell (AFC),
phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC), molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC), solid oxide fuel cell
(SOFC), polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) and direct methanol fuel cell
(DMFC). Table 1 shows briefly their characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.

3. Research trends in PEMFC

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is a rugged, quite, clean and efficient
energy conversion means for transportation application [3,4]. The capital cost of PEMFC
originally used in space, at USD2000/kW is too expensive for terrestrial application and must be
reduced in order to make it more competitive. Cost reduction is directed in order of priority, on
polymer electrolyte membrane and catalyst electrodes (membrane electrode assemblies, MEA),
fuel cell stack, fuel cell processor, power conditioner and air supply system [5–7].

3.1. Membrane cost reduction

Reduction of membrane cost could be achieved by using non-fluorinated polymer electrolytes

with a cheaper sulfonated polymer backbone. Sulfonation of poly(ether ketone), poly(styrene)
and related materials produces high proton conductivity polymers free of fluorine. Grafting of
short sulfonate terminated side groups would increase thermal stability. Extensive research has
been done to produce cheaper membranes to replace DuPont’s Nafion 117 [8,9] use of
commercially available polymer membranes such as PTFE, FEP, and PFA to produce new
electrolyte membranes by grafting them with styrene and sulfonic acid through irradiation, looks
very promising and further development is underway to improve performance of the membrane
[10,11]. The research group in UKM and The Asahi Chemical Co. studied on alternative
membranes available in the market like the Aciplex membrane from Asahi but found that the
Dupont’s Nafion 117 is still superior [12,13]. Extensive tests by Asahi on another promising
electrolyte membrane, flemion, shows it is also a viable alternative [14].

3.2. Non-hydrated membrane

Current polymer electrolyte membranes must be fully hydrated for good proton conduction.
The PEMFC system therefore requires the provision of a water management system that consists
of air and fuel gas humidifiers and water recovery system. PEMFC system complexity could be
reduced by the development of ‘water-free’ electrolytes that do not require hydration. It also
enables the PEMFC to be operated under ‘warm’ conditions (i.e. above 100 8C) thus further
improving its efficiency. Capital cost could also be further reduced because at warmer conditions
less Pt could be used. Acid–base polymer complexes where a strong acid is coupled to a highly
basic polymer are good proton conductors without hydration. Basic polymers such as PEO, PVA
[poly(vinylalchohol)], PAAM [poly(acrylamide)], PVP [poly(vinylpyrrolidone)], PEI poly(-
ethyleneimine), poly(aminosilicates), and PBI [poly(benzimidazole)] in combination with
sulfuric, phosphoric and various halide acids could also be used [15]. Replacement of water in
 K. Sopian, W.R. Wan Daud / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 719–727 723

sulfonated polymer by a less volatile ionic liquid such as heterocyclic amines such as imidazole
(pyrazole) and benzimidazole [16]. Better still, the ionic liquid should be linked to the polymer
backbone to prevent lost of the ionic liquid. However, performance of these non-hydrated
membranes is a very long way from that of Nafion

3.3. Low Pt loading electrodes

The lowering of the platinum loading on the electrodes has become the subject of many
research [17–23]. Although a variety of electrode catalyst layers such as PTFE bound catalyst
layer, sputtered thin catalyst layer by sputtering and electrodeposition have been made [24], it is
still more efficient and cheaper to use PTFE bound catalyst layer with a gas diffusion layer. It is
found that low-platinum electrode with a diffusion layer gives better performance than those
without the latter [25–28]. Carbon nanotube based gas diffusion layer are now being developed.
Complete elimination of Pt in electrodes could dramatically reduce PEMFC cost. The Pt could
be replaced with metal oxides such as mixed conducting oxides, hydrous, amorphous FePOx but
research is still very low.

3.4. CO tolerant anode electrocatatlysts

Since Pt is still the best electrocatalyst, its low CO tolerant has been improved by using
bifunctional catalysts such using alloys of Pt with Ru, Mo and Re [29]. Electro-oxidation of CO,
which would otherwise remain strongly absorbed onto Pt, is catalyzed by oxygen-like or
hydroxyl species absorbed onto neighboring Ru sites. However, bifunctional catalysts are more
effective if it is arranged in a specific way but alloy molecules are arranged in random.
Intermetallic compounds such as Pt–Bi may have more regular and more thermodynamically
stable structure but no extensive work has been done in this area.

3.5. Bipolar plate material

The cost of bipolar plates could be reduced by substituting the graphite plates with composite
plates formed by pressing a mixture of conducting and non-conducting polymer powders [30,31].
Non-porous graphite is the standard material for bipolar plates but graphite bipolar plates are
expensive to manufacture because of the long time required to machine the plates using a CNC
machine. Metal bipolar plates have been used but dissolution of plate due to highly acidic
environment renders the plate having a short operating life. This problem could be solved by
coating the metal plate. Coated bipolar metal plates, however, tend to crack due to unequal
coefficient of expansion of the metal and the coating. A variation of the metal bipolar plates is the
porous metal bipolar plates, which could function both as a bipolar plate and a gas distributor
without further forming processes [32]. Metal–carbon–polymer composites are better both in
terms of material and manufacturing costs. Most suitable polymers are thermoplastics such as
polyethylene, polypropylene & poly(vinylidene fluoride) [33] and thermoset resins such as
penolics, epoxies & vinyl esters.

3.6. Stack and bipolar plate design

The proper design of flow distribution of gases in the bipolar plates making up the internally
manifolded stack is also important to ensure mass transfer limitations is reduced to a minimum
724 K. Sopian, W.R. Wan Daud / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 719–727

Table 2
Current fuel cell materials

Fuel cell Anode Cathode Electrolyte Interconnect material (SOFC)

/bipolar plate (PEMFC)
SOFC La1KxSrxMnO3Kd Ceramic metal composite Yttria stabilized Alkali doped LaCrO3
(lanthanum strontium (cermet) comprised of zirconia (YSZ), (lanthanum chromite), with
manganite or LSM) 0. NiCYSZ with 8 mol% Y specific dopant (typically, Sr,
15!x!0.25 Ca or Mg)
PEMFC Pt nano particles sup- Pt nano particles sup- Polymer electro- Graphite or graphite-polymer
ported on carbon ported on carbon lyte membrane composite
(Nafion)
DMFC Similar to those of PEMFC

[34,35]. The distribution topology also known as the flow field include parallel, serpentine and
interdigitated as well as various combinations of them [36].

3.7. PEMFC system design

System design of the fuel cell has long been neglected and it was only towards the end of the
last decade and early this century that greater efforts have been made to improve fuel cell system
design in order to improve further the efficiency [37–39]. The application of process system
engineering technology such as pinch technology is now being applied to fuel cell systems [40].
One problem in process system engineering of fuel cell systems is the lack of good models for
most of the fuel cell system components such as the fuel stack itself, gas humidifier, pressure
swing adsorber, membrane reactor fuel cell processor and membrane gas separator. Simpler
model of the fuel cell for use in conceptual design of PEMFC system is developed by Masdar
et al. [41]. Iyuke et al., 2001 proposed a model for the humidifier [42] while Hassan et al., 2003
develops the water management system models for the PEMFC system [43]. Kamaruddin et al.,
2003 developed a model for the gas membrane separator to separate the hydrogen from CO
(Table 2) [44].

4. Fuel cell system demonstration and commercialization

The PAFC has reached commercialization stage mainly for central stationary power of up to
11 MW. The MCFC and SOFC have been demonstrated for stationary central power of up to 250
and 100 kW, respectively, since late 1990s. Both are now entering commercial markets in the
next 5 years. Although PEMFC has been demonstrated in buses, cars, motorcycles and portable
power units of up to 250 kW all over the world since the early 1990s, there are still many
unresolved commercialization issues especially manufacturing cost. The PEMFC are expected
to be fully commercialized in the next 10–15 years. Table 3 shows the commercialization status
and future trends of the various fuel cell types [45].
The USA, Europe, Canada and Japan are leading the world in fuel cell research and
development and in fuel cell commercialization (Table 4) [45]. Iceland has taken the bold step of
converting to the hydrogen economy in 2003. A hydrogen future act was passed in the US Senate
to prepare the USA for a future hydrogen economy. More than USD one billion from the USA
government will be spent in the next 5 years to commercialize fuel cells and prepare the USA’s
infrastructure for the future hydrogen economy.
 K. Sopian, W.R. Wan Daud / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 719–727 725

Table 3
Commercialization status and trends of various types of fuel cells

Fuel cell Commercialization status Future trends

Phosphoric acid fuel cell Commercial: 50–200 kW & 1–11 MW units Increase PAFC installations
(PAFC) Total: 65 MW worldwide, Technology leader: Uni- Expand PAFC markets
ted Technologies
Molten carbonate fuel cell Demonstrator plant in California, 1997, 2 MW Increase stationary applications
(MCFC) Production capacity of 250 kW prototypes at
400 MW in 2004
Technology leader: Fuel Cell Energy Inc.
Solid oxide fuel cell Demonstrator plant in Netherlands, 1998 100 kW Increase stationary applications
(SOFC) Technology leader: Siemen Westinghouse
Polymer electrolyte mem- Ballard PEMFC powered bus demonstrator, 1993 Improve PEMFC performance
brane fuel cell (PEMFC) for bus fleet operations
Xcellsis commercial PEMFC powered bus by 2005 Expand PEMFC markets
All major car manufacturers has PEMFC powered
car prototypes
Stationary (250 kW) & domestic power (1–50 kW)
prototypes
Technology leader: Ballard

5. Conclusions

Fuel cell will be the technology of choice of the future hydrogen economy that will certainly
be a reality when our fossil fuel runs out. The first three older fuel cells (AFC, PAFC and MCFC)
were well developed and there are no more research and development issues to address. The
developments of both fuel cell technologies have already reached the top plateau of the S-curve
of technological development. In contrast, the technologies for the last three types of fuel cells
(SOFC, PEMFC and DMFC) are still developing rapidly at the acceleration part of the S-curve
and there are numerous opportunities for innovations before both types of fuel cells are available
for commercial applications. Contemporary research and development in fuel cells are therefore
now focused mainly on SOFC, PEMFC and DMFC. Although fuel cell technologies has been
studied for many years in USA, Europe, Canada and Japan, other smaller countries could still
contribute to the development of fuel cell technologies particularly PEMFC and DMFC
technologies, and to commercialize them in niche markets.

Table 4
Commercialization status and trends of fuel cells in different countries

Country Commercialization status Future trends

USA Light duty fuel cell vehicle Improve fueling infrastructure
R&D on direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) & SOFC Increase PAFC installations
Stationary power demonstrator
Europe PAFC, PEMFC & DMFC for portable & mobile applications Improve mobile applications
SOFC & MCFC for stationary power
R&D on advanced multi-fuel processor
Canada PEMFC for transit buses and cars Improve PEMFC for fleet operation
Japan PEMFC, MCFC & SOFC for stationary and mobile applications Increase PAFC installations
Expand PAFC market
726 K. Sopian, W.R. Wan Daud / Renewable Energy 31 (2006) 719–727

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