Recycling and regeneration of used perfluorosulfonic membranes for polymer electrolyte fuel cells

This paper describes a method for the recycling and regeneration of used perfluorosulfonic Nafion^® (Dupont) membranes by dissolution and recasting. The dissolution of the used Nafion^® membranes from polymer electrolyte fuel cells is realized using dimethyl sulfoxide as a solvent under atmospheric pressure and 190 °C. A mechanically robust membrane can be reproduced by a recast process of the dissolved Nafion^® solution at 170 °C. The recycled membrane has shown a good crystalline structure and high mechanical strength. Membrane properties, including water uptake, exchange capacity and resistance are similar to that of the as-received Nafion^® 115 membrane. Fuel cells prepared by the recycled membrane demonstrate a comparable performance to that of the fresh fuel cell.