Optimizing interlayer thickness for enhanced performance and chemical durability in sandwich-structured PEM fuel cells

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Gautama, Zulfi Al Rasyid and Yang, I. and Fukaya, Norihiro and Ercelik, Mustafa and Ismail, Mohammed S. and Lyth, Stephen Matthew and Sasaki, Kazunari and Nishihara, Masamichi (2026) Optimizing interlayer thickness for enhanced performance and chemical durability in sandwich-structured PEM fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources, 661. 238654. ISSN 0378-7753 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpowsour.2025.238654)

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Abstract

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are a leading technology for clean energy conversion, but their widespread adoption is hindered by the trade-off between high performance and long-term chemical durability. Here, we report an engineered multilayer PEM that sandwiches a gas barrier interlayer between cast Nafion outer layers. A blend of poly(vinyl alcohol) and poly(vinylsulfonic acid) (PVA/PVS) is used as the interlayer material, designed to suppress gas crossover and mitigate chemical attack without sacrificing ionic conductivity. The optimized membrane (designated PVA-100) has an interlayer loading of 100 μg/cm2and achieves power density equivalent to pristine Nafion at 0.6 V. Crucially, under accelerated stress testing, this membrane exhibits 1.8x higher chemical durability compared with a conventional membrane, maintaining superior voltage stability and superior power output retention at 0.6 V. These findings establish interlayer engineering as a scalable and effective strategy to overcome the durability–performance trade-off in PEM fuel cells.

ORCID iDs

Gautama, Zulfi Al Rasyid, Yang, I., Fukaya, Norihiro, Ercelik, Mustafa, Ismail, Mohammed S., Lyth, Stephen Matthew ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9563-867X, Sasaki, Kazunari and Nishihara, Masamichi;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)