Polymeric materials for fuel cells: concise review of recent studies

Polymeric materials find applications in almost all types of fuel cells (FCs). For example, microstructural optimization of materials by poly(methyl methacrylate) microspheres in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) or as the conductive binders for the preparation of carbon electrodes for the phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs). However, these applications are only marginal and not intrinsically essential to the functioning of these types of fuel cells, and will not be discussed in this review. On the other hand, ion exchange polymers used for the preparation of the ion exchange membranes, separating anode and cathode compartment of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs), and direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are one of their major components, and investigations of them, conducted during the last two years, are discussed in the present review. The same is true for a few polymers used for complexation of enzymes and their attachment to electrodes of biofuel cells (BFCs). Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.