A heat treatment apparatus of membrane electrode assemblies includes a base, a first member extending from the base in a first direction, and a plurality of second members formed on the base in a radially outward direction of the first member and having inner surfaces facing the first member, where the first member or the second members includes a heat wire member, and membrane electrode assemblies are disposed between the first member and the second members.

Method of preparing a proton exchange membrane (PEM) include mixing a precursor of a perfluorosulfonic acid polymer with a second material to form a precursor material in a reduced humidity zone; extruding the precursor material under reduced humidity to form a filament; 3D printing the PEM with the filament; converting the precursor of the perfluorosulfonic acid polymer to the perfluorosulfonic acid polymer within the PEM; and coating the PEM.

An electrolyte membrane and method for generating the membrane provide a resistance as low as possible to minimize ohmic losses. The membrane has a low permeability for redox-active species. If redox-active species still cross the membrane, this transport is balanced during charge and discharge preventing a net vanadium flux and associated capacity fading. The membrane is mechanically robust, chemically stable in electrolyte solution, and low cost. A family of ion exchange membranes including a bilayer architecture achieves these requirements. The bilayer membrane includes two polymers, i) a polymer including N-heterocycles with electron lone pairs acting as proton acceptor sites and ii) a mechanically robust polymer acting as a support, which can be a dense cation exchange membrane or porous support layer. This bilayer architecture permits a very thin polymer film on a supporting polymer to minimize ohmic resistance and tune electrolyte transport properties of the membrane.

A method of making an alkaline membrane fuel cell assembly is disclosed. The method may include: depositing a first catalyst layer on a first gas diffusion layer to form a first gas diffusion electrode; depositing a second catalyst layer one a second gas diffusion layer to form a second gas diffusion electrode; depositing a thin membrane on at least one of: the first catalyst layer and the second catalyst layer; joining together the first and second gas diffusion electrodes to form the alkaline fuel cell assembly such that the thin membrane is located between the first and second catalyst layers; and sealing the first and second gas diffusion layers, the first and second catalyst layers and the thin membrane from all sides.

A heat treatment apparatus of membrane electrode assemblies includes a base, a first member extending from the base in a first direction, and a plurality of second members formed on the base in a radially outward direction of the first member and having inner surfaces facing the first member, where the first member or the second members includes a heat wire member, and membrane electrode assemblies are disposed between the first member and the second members.

A method for bonding together two or more acid-doped polybenzimidazole films is provided. The method includes, in the following order: placing a first acid-doped polybenzimidazole film on a first substrate to form a first film/substrate assembly and placing a second acid-doped polybenzimidazole film on a second substrate to form a second film/substrate assembly; heating the first and second film/substrate assemblies to a temperature sufficient to soften the first and second acid-doped polybenzimidazole films; positioning the second film/substrate assembly atop the first film/substrate assembly, such that polybenzimidazole polymer chains of the first acid-doped polybenzimidazole film interact with polybenzimidazole polymer chains of the second acid-doped polybenzimidazole film; and re-hydrolyzing the first and second acid-doped polybenzimidazole films, such that the polybenzimidazole polymer chains of the first and second acid-doped polybenzimidazole films are therefore reformed and interlocked with each other to bond together the first and second acid-doped polybenzimidazole films.

Disclosed is a method of manufacturing an electrolyte membrane for fuel cells. The method includes preparing an electrolyte layer including one or more ion conductive polymers that form a proton movement channel, and permeating a gas from a first surface of the electrolyte layer to a second surface of the electrolyte layer.

An object is to provide a technique that improves the power generation performance, while enhancing the strength of a reinforced electrolyte membrane. There is provided a method of manufacturing a reinforced electrolyte membrane that comprises a first reinforcing film on one surface of an electrolyte membrane and a second reinforcing film on the other surface of the electrolyte membrane. The method of manufacturing the reinforced electrolyte membrane comprises (a) process of thermally compressing the first reinforcing film and the second reinforcing film to the electrolyte membrane. In the process (a), a number of times of thermally compressing the second reinforcing film to the electrolyte membrane is less than a number of times of thermally compressing the first reinforcing film to the electrolyte membrane.

A humidifier comprises hollow shell and humidifier core. The humidifier core includes a transfer sheet, a plurality of first channels, and a plurality of second channels. The transfer sheet comprises a permeable material having a plurality of sections and a plurality of layers of spacing materials. The plurality of first channels are configured to allow air flow in a first direction and to prevent airflow in a second direction that is different from the first direction. The plurality of second channels are configured to allow air flow in the second direction and to prevent airflow in the first direction. The humidifier comprises a stack of alternating first channels and second channels, and the first channels are configured to transfer liquid from air flowing in at least one of the first channels to air flowing in at least one of the second channels. The humidifier is suitable for use in fuel cell stack.

A post-processing method of a polymer electrolyte membrane, which anneals and stretches a polymer electrolyte membrane including a hydrocarbon-based copolymer in a vapor atmosphere of a solvent.