Toray Develops New Hydrocarbon Electrolyte Membrane for Fuel Cells

Toray Industries, Inc., a leading Japanese manufacturer of fibers and chemicals, announced on November 3, 2006, that it has developed a new hydrocarbon electrolyte membrane for hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles and other applications. This development is based on technology that controls molecular structures at the nano level.

Although existing hydrocarbon membranes were developed as alternatives to conventional fluorocarbon membranes, they are brittle and easily broken. Toray's new hydrocarbon membrane has improved these drawbacks by increasing its tensile elongation by about 2.5-fold and tear strength by about five-fold (according to Toray's data). In addition, its hydrogen permeability is as low as one tenth that of typical fluorocarbon membranes. These features will enable fuel cells to have greater durability and higher power generation capacity.

Conventional fluorocarbon membranes for fuel cells are expensive, environmentally unfriendly, and less resistant to chemicals. To overcome these shortcomings, research and development efforts have been made worldwide, focusing on fluorine-free alternatives, such as hydrocarbon membranes.

When used for hydrogen-based applications, such as polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) vehicles, and stationary and portable fuel cells, the newly developed membrane will provide enhanced performance and longer run times, thus accelerating commercialization. It can also be used for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) applications, which use methanol as fuel. With this membrane, mobile electronics, such as laptop computers and cell phones, are expected to become smaller and run for longer periods.

http://www.toray.com/index.html

Posted: 2007/02/19 12:10:22 PM
Japanese version