PFSA S30-R ePTFE Reinforced Proton Exchange Membrane

PFSA S30-R ePTFE Reinforced Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) is used to separate the anode and cathode compartment of PEM fuel cell stacks that usually consume H2/Air as the fuel/oxidant and requires achieving high current densities (which necessitates the use of a relatively thin membrane). It is quite a common practice in the fuel cell industry to use reinforced or unreinforced PFSA membranes with a thickness of 50 microns or less for most of the commercial applications (such as PEM fuel cells for automotive, heavy duty trucks, buses, etc.). PFSA S30-R ePTFE Reinforced Proton Exchange Membrane has a thickness of 30 microns (+/- 2 microns for the thickness variation) and ideally suited for PEM fuel cell stacks that would yield very high current densities and long operational lifetimes. The mechanical reinforcement in this membrane is based on the microporous ePTFE which has 3-D porous regions where the ionically conducting PFSA is wet impregnated via solution cast method. This material has a backing plastic on one side.

Considering S30-R broadens your horizon by providing an equally valuable avenue to explore, alongside Nafion XL.

The major benefit of mechanically reinforced PFSA membranes would be their significantly enhanced operational lifetime compared to the unreinforced PFSA membranes due to swelling related stresses being taken up by the ePTFE reinforcement.  One of the major limitations of the mechanically reinforced PFSA membranes is their lower proton or ionic conductivity compared to unreinforced membranes because of less ionically conducting material per unit volume or per unit mass (while ePTFE reinforcement is quite porous, it does have a mass regardless). While it is not a common practice, this membrane product can also be used in PEM water electrolyzer, direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), direct formic acid fuel cells (DFAFC), microbial fuel cells (MFC) and other similar applications and it is always advised that the end-user to take into consideration of the thickness of the PFSA membrane for their particular application and how it may effect the performance positively or negatively. 

PFSA S30-R ePTFE Reinforced Proton Exchange Membrane is based on the chemically stabilized perfluorosulfonic acid material and it is shipped in the acid (H+) form (which is also known as protonic form). Chemical stabilization is also known as end-group stabilization where the carbon atoms that end of the PFSA polymer chains are fully fluorinated. Chemically stabilized PFSA membranes will exhibit substantially lower fluoride ion release compared to the PFSA membranes manufactured from unstabilized PFSA resin.  Functional groups (also known as sulfonic acid sites) for this PFSA membrane are based on the long side chain for its chemical structure.

Proton exchange membranes are also known as cation exchange membranes in the market. This PFSA membrane performs as a separator and solid electrolyte (without the need of a liquid acid) in a variety of electrochemical cells that require the membrane to selectively transport protons or other various cations across the cell junction (or between anode and cathode catalyst layers). The polymer is chemically resistant and durable.

Please contact us at sales@fuelcellstore.com for the SDS and technical data sheets (TDS).

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