Electro-osmotic drag coefficient and proton conductivity in Nafion® membrane for PEMFC

Abstract A new method based on hydrogen pump is presented to measure the electro-osmotic drag coefficient and proton conductivity in Nafion ® 117 membrane under similar condition to operating PEMFC. For membranes in contact with liquid water on both sides, electro-osmotic drag coefficient and proton conductivity increase with increasing temperature over the range of 20–90 °C while keeping water content inside the membrane constant ( λ  = 22.5) and decrease with decreasing water content in the membrane while keeping temperature of system constant ( T  = 25 °C). On the basis of cluster-network model and transport mechanisms of proton and water in ionomeric membrane, the results are discussed.