• Applied Chemistry for Engineering
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.74-80
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• 2019

$Nafion/TiO_2$ composite membranes were prepared via an in-situ sol-gel process with different immersing periods from 1 day to 7 days for the low humidifying proton exchange membrane fuel cell. As the immersing time increased, the $TiO_2$ content within the Nafion membrane increased. The contact angle decreased with the increased $TiO_2$ content in the composite membrane due to the increased hydrophilicity. The water uptake and proton conductivity reached to the highest level for 4 day immersing period, then decreased as the immersing period increased. A 7 days of immersing time was shown to be too long because too much $TiO_2$ aggregates were formed on the membrane surface as well as interior of the membrane, interfering the proton transfer from anode to cathode. Cell performance results were in good agreement with those of the water uptake and proton conductivity; current densities under a relative humidity (RH) of 40% were 0.54, 0.6, $0.63A/cm^2$ and $0.49A/cm^2$ for the immersing time of 1, 3, 4 and 7 days, respectively at a 0.6 V. The composite membrane prepared via the in-situ sol-gel process exhibited the enhancement in the cell performance under of RH 40% by a maximum of about 66% compared to those of using the recasting composite membrane and Nafion 115.