Anion exchange membrane fuel cells are of interest since they allow to use non-precious metal catalyst for both anode and cathode reaction. More than 2000 articles have been published on alkaline membrane fuel cells(1). There is one previous report indicating initial power densities of 1W/cm² but with no long term data(2). The best long term data shows a cell voltage decrease by about 25% over 800hr at a current density of 400mA/cm² and 60°C.

Presently, Sustainion® 37 anion exchange membranes have demonstrate excellent stability in anion exchange membrane carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water electrolyzer(3-6). Carbon dioxide electrolyzer runs at pH 6-8 with 10mM KHCO3 in anode(3), while water electrolyzer runs at pH close to 14 with circulating 1M KOH at both anode and cathode at 60C(4-6). Both alkaline CO₂ and water electrolyzers have demonstrated 4000hr runs with only 1-6µV/hr increase in the cell voltage(3, 5).

Here we report our preliminary results for fuel cells with Sustainion® 43 anion exchange membranes as shown in Figure 1. In this data, Pt/C catalysts were used as both cathode and anode, and humidified H₂ and O₂ were fed to anode and cathode, respectively. The cell operated at 60 °C with back pressure of 1 atm. The maximum power density was 0.44W/cm² and the maximum current density was 2A/cm². These initial results suggest that Sustainion® 43 membranes could be useful for alkaline membrane fuel cells.

Figure 1 Cell voltage and power density as function of current density of the fuel cell with Sustanion anion exchange membrane and Pt/C for both anode and cathode. Back pressure: 1 atm; cell temperature at 60°C.

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