Advances in hybrid composite membranes engineering for high-performance direct methanol fuel cells by alignment of 2D nanostructures and a dual-layer approach

The inclusion of hydrophilic 2D-nanoparticles in a polymeric matrix demonstrated to be a promising strategy both to improve the proton transport in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), and to mitigate the methanol crossover in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), acting as physical barriers. Moreover, a higher order's degree in the arrangement of the filler's platelets, e.g. aligned parallel to the membrane surface, may further reduce the detrimental effect of the methanol permeation as a consequence of the greater obstruction and increased tortuosity of the fuel diffusion path.