Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cells deliver high power density and offer the advantage of low weight and volume, compared to other fuel cells. The PEM fuel cell present a Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) architecture corresponding to a proton conductive membrane sandwiched between two catalytic electrodes. Platinum and its alloys are mainly used as the catalyst and Nafion® as the proton conductive material. It is now clear that the emergence of PEMFC as a leading low carbon energy solution for applications in transport, stationary and portable power[i] requires strong performances improvement of the key fuel cell material components (catalysts and proton conductive membrane) as well as new solutions to overcome integration limitations. Directing our works towards an industry-compatible material processing method, we developed a PECVD ion conductive membrane with proton conductivity values of the same order than the one of Nafion®. The membrane is made of a CF backbone with carboxylic functions providing a proton conductive pattern. The XPS analysis indicate the presence of many fluorated species (mainly CF₂-CF₂ and CF₃-CF₂) and C-O / C=O bonds. The proportion of C-O and C=O bonds influences strongly the proton conductivity and can be adjusted through the process parameters (See figure 1). For a conductivity of ~ 100 mS/cm, an ionic exchange capacity of 2.1 meq/g was measured. This PECVD membrane was tested integrated in a fuel cell stack. Open circuit voltages around 900 mV were measured for a 12µm thick membrane. Despite the elevated proton conductivity, the performances of the fuel cells with this PECVD membrane are disappointing. However, we observed that interfaces improvement (through annealing treatments, composite zones at the interfaces) improve the fuel cell performances (See figure 2). We will present the conductivity measurement and comparison with the one of Nafion® membranes and fuel cell performances will be discussed.

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1. Microfabrication of thin film microbatteries
2. Microbattery technology overview and associated multilayer encapsulation process