A comparative investigation of proton and methanol transport in fluorinated ionomeric membranes

Proton conductivities as well as methanol permeabilities were investigated for two commercial partially fluorinated ionomeric membranes: IonClad(R) R-1010 and R-4010, both manufactured by Pall Company. The investigation was carried out in the temperature range 20 to 60 degrees C. The results were compared with data for Nafion(R) 117 (DuPont) obtained in the same temperature range. We found that IonClad membranes, while exhibiting proton conductivity approximately equal to that of Nafion 117, are considerably less permeable to methanol. The permeability measured for R-4010 membranes was almost four times smaller than for the Nafion membrane. These characteristics together with the low cost make the IonClad membranes interesting potential candidates for application in the direct methanol Fuel cell. (C) 2000 The Electrochemical Society. S0013-4651(99)02-095-9. All rights reserved.