Bioadhesive-Inspired Ionomer for Membrane Electrode Assembly Interface Reinforcement in Fuel Cells

Anion exchange membrane fuel cells promise a sustainable and ecofriendly energy conversion pathway yet suffer from insufficient performance and durability. Drawing inspiration from mussel foot adhesion proteins for the first time, we herein demonstrate catechol-modified ionomers that synergistically reinforce the membrane electrode assembly interface and triple-phase boundary inside catalyst layers. The resulting ionomers present exceptional alkaline stability with only slight ionic conductivity declines after treatment in 2 M NaOH aqueous solution at 80 °C for 2500 h. Adopting catechol-modified ionomer as both anion exchange membrane and binder achieves a single-cell performance increase of 34%, and more importantly, endows fuel cell operation at a current density of 0.4 A cm for over 300 h with negligible performance degradation (with a cell voltage decay rate of 0.03 mV h). Combining theoretical and experimental investigations, we reveal the molecular adhesion mechanism between the catechol-modified ionomer and Pt catalyst and illuminate the effect on the catalyst layer microstructure. Of fundamental interest, this bioadhesive-inspired strategy is critical to enabling knowledge-driven ionomer design and is promising for diverse membrane electrode assembly configurational applications.