• Celtec - P Membrane for High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells
Celtec®-P Membrane For High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells:

BASF has been manufacturing Celtec-P membrane since 2005.  This membrane is based on the polybenzimidazole (PBI) chemistry and it is ideal for high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell and other high temperature electrochemical devices that require a membrane with excellent durability and stability in the temperature range of 120 deg C to 180 deg Celsius.  This membrane is produced by BASF and a sol-gel process is used for the synthesis of the membrane itself.  Membrane synthesis related schematic is given on the right side to show the novel method used for the production of the Celtec-P membrane and how it makes this PBI membrane unique and advanced compared to other PBI membranes in the commercial market.

The membrane is shipped in the sheet form (23.2cm by 27.8cm for the physical dimensions) and it is already phosphoric acid doped and ready to use.

Celtec-P membrane is also the core of the following This Celtec®-P MEA products, which can be procured directly from Fuel Cell Store website: 

 

For any other tailored or customized high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) membrane and MEAs, please contact us at sales@fuelcellstore.com.

Applications and Properties of Celtec®-P Membrane Based Products (Membrane or MEAs):

Some of the applications that can benefit from BASF Celtec®-P high temperature proton exchange membrane and MEAs manufactured by this membrane are provided below.  

Applications Properties
  • Backup Power
  • Combined heat, power, and cooling
  • Auxiliary power units
  • Battery range extender
  • Based on polybenzimidazole and phosphoric acid
  • Operating temperature 120 to 180 °C
  • High tolerance to carbon monoxide in the fuel mixture
  • No humidification is necessary
  • Long operational lifetime and stability (>20k hours)
 
 
Fuel Cell Performance of Celtec®-P MEAs Made with Celtec-P Membranes:

Hydrogen/Air and Reformate/Air reactant based fuel cell performance of Celtec®-P MEAs (which were made with Celtec-P membrane) are provided below. 

 
CO Tolerance of Celtec®-P MEAs made with Celtec-P Membranes:

One of the major benefit of the high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell technology is the capability of consuming the reformed hydrogen stream, it is essential that MEAs used in such electrochemical devices have excellent carbon monoxide tolerance.  During the reformation reaction, there is a small amount of the carbon monoxide gas generated in the fuel stream exiting the reforming catalyst bed, and presence of carbon monoxide can impact the overall fuel cell performance.  One can consider the membrane as the hearth of the MEA and Celtec-P membranes have been demonstrated both in the lab and commercial products to last >20000 hours.  BASF Celtec®-P MEAs uses Celtec-P membrane and  a proprietary anode and cathode catalysts in order to allow the Celtec®-P MEAs tolerate high levels of carbon monoxide compared to the other commercial high temperature PEMFC MEAs.  The following graph provides an example performance curve for Celtec®-P MEAs at different CO concentrations as a function of temperature. 

 

Robust Performance Against Humidity Changes for Celtec®-P MEAs made with Celtec-P Membranes:

Conventional high temperature PEMFC devices would usually use a polybenzimidazole PBI) or a co-polymer of PBI membrane that is phosphoric acid doped after the production of the membrane.  Such membrane activation and containment of the liquid acid inside the membrane result in acid leaching phenomenon.  PEM fuel cells generate water as the main by-product at the cathode side and presence of water further impacts the acid leaching phenomenon with the conventional PBI membrane.  Celtec®-P MEAs utilized an advance form of PBI membrane where the proprietary tetraamino monomer and dicarboxylic acid monomer are first reacted via polycondensation reaction in phosphoric acid and then a solution casting & hydrolysis step is carried out in order to obtain the Celtec®-P membrane.  This sol-gel synthesis protocol allows the PBI membrane to attain a novel morphology where the phosphoric acid is contained inside the membrane more effectively and has less acid leaching issues compared to conventional PBI membranes.  Laboratory test results showed that operational lifetimes of exceeding 20,000 hours can easily be achieved with Celtec®-P MEAs and Celtec®-P membranes.  The following graph provides the robust performance of Celtec®-P MEA against different humidity conditions.

 

For customers that purchased this product, a copy BASF Fuel Cell Handbook will be provided separately (free-of-charge) in an electronic format such as PDF file.

 

A typical lead time of 1-2 weeks is to be expected.

Celtec-P Membrane
Thickness 400 microns (+/- 40 microns)
E-module >3 N/mm2
Compression 20 < p < 25 (%)
Acid Concentration 55 wt% (+/-4 wt%)
Acid Content by Volume 810 mg/cm3 (+/-50 mg/cm3)
Acid Content by Area 34 mg/cm2 (+/-3 mg/cm2)
PBI Content 77 mg/cm3 (+/-12 mg/cm3)
I.V. Value (dL/g) >4.5 (dL/g)
Is the Membrane Acid Doped? Yes

Write a review

Note: HTML is not translated!
    Bad           Good
Captcha

Celtec - P Membrane for High Temperature PEM Fuel Cells

  • Brand: BASF
  • BASF
  • SKU: 20010001
  • $157.00


Related Products