Can the proton exchange membrane he developed reduce the cost of fuel cells by half?

As the core component behind hydrogen fuel cells, proton exchange membrane has been monopolized by DuPont of the United States since the 1960s.

 

With the launch of Toyota Mirai and Hyundai ix30 fuel cell vehicles, hydrogen refueling stations have been deployed in the United States, Japan, and Europe. Hydrogen fuel cells have attracted much attention due to their high specific energy density, excellent energy conversion efficiency, and truly clean energy characteristics.

 

However, as the core component behind hydrogen fuel cells, proton exchange membrane (PEM) has been monopolized by DuPont of the United States since the 1960s.

 

Therefore, when I heard that the proton exchange membrane developed in the laboratory by Professor He Weidong of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China and his team could compete with DuPont's products and cost only one-tenth of the latter, I was very excited.

Therefore, Che Yunjun found He Weidong and discussed his technological breakthroughs in fuel cell materials and the prospects of China's fuel cell technology.

 

Professor He Weidong from University of Electronic Science and Technology of China

What kind of "membrane" is it?

 

For ordinary users, proton exchange membrane is undoubtedly a rather unpopular term. However, its significance to fuel cell vehicles cannot be underestimated.

First of all, the cost.

       
According to He Weidong, the core system of a fuel cell is the stack, which accounts for about 60% of the entire fuel cell's cost, and the cost of the stack is mainly composed of platinum catalysts and proton exchange membranes. According to the current market situation, one square centimeter of Nafion membrane (DuPont's proton exchange membrane model) costs several yuan or even nearly ten yuan, and the demand for proton exchange membranes for each vehicle fuel cell is at the square meter level, which means that a fuel cell stack contains tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of costs that are entirely attributed to the proton exchange membrane.

The second is efficiency.

       
The efficiency here mainly refers to the proton conductivity of the proton exchange membrane. From the working principle, the proton exchange membrane provides a channel for the migration and transport of protons, allowing protons to pass through the membrane from the anode to the cathode, forming a loop with the electron transfer of the external circuit, and providing current to the outside world. Therefore, the proton conductivity value is proportional to the performance of the proton exchange membrane.
 

    
Proton exchange membrane developed by He Weidong's team   

       
According to He Weidong, his team has developed a new pulping process and membrane forming process, and the proton exchange membrane produced by its circular mold can reach the order of hundreds of square centimeters. It is worth noting that He Weidong said that its proton conductivity is 1.78 times that of DuPont's Nafion 117 proton exchange membrane, while the cost is about one-tenth of DuPont's proton exchange membrane. It is reported that he hopes to make some breakthroughs in improving the material porosity, pore morphology and controllability of thickness.

 

The electrophoresis platform developed by He Weidong's team

 

Of course, the significance of proton exchange membrane is not only related to the cost and quality of the fuel cell vehicle itself or a single fuel cell. As we all know:

       
On the one hand, hydrogen energy is a high-quality energy carrier with high energy density, and its inherent cleanness compared to lithium battery technology makes it impossible for China, which is facing severe environmental problems, to reject it.

     
On the other hand, the high technical barriers of fuel cells have made it difficult for the domestic fuel cell industry to break through, and there are a series of technical problems that need to be solved in each link related to hydrogen production, storage and transportation.

       
Therefore, once the proton exchange membrane link is opened up, it seems that it can solve the single point problem of fuel cell vehicles, but in fact it can open up the entire fuel cell industry chain.

       
Not only that, He Weidong also said that as a basic material with good scalability, the research significance of proton exchange membrane is not necessarily just to promote emerging energy vehicles.

       
However, He Weidong's current research results on proton exchange membranes are still in the laboratory stage, and he is also looking for opportunities for industrialization. Previously, the photocatalyst products developed by He Weidong have already started mass production.