PEM fuel cells

Rigid Rod Poly (p-Phenylene Sulfonic Acid) PEMs: High Conductivity at Low Relative Humidity Due to" Frozen-In-Free Volume"

by Sergio Granados

Publication Date (Web): April 30, 2010 | doi: 10.1021/bk-2010-1040.ch004 In Fuel Cell Chemistry and Operation; Herring, A., et al.;
ACS Symposium Series; American Chemical Society: Washington, DC, 2010.

Aromatic rigid-rod polyelectrolytes have been made that have
“frozen-in free volume”. Homopolymers and copolymers... more Aromatic rigid-rod polyelectrolytes have been made that have
“frozen-in free volume”. Homopolymers and copolymers form
liquid crystalline arrays that cannot pack closely due to steric
hindrance. They form nano-channels that absorb and hold
water very strongly. This enables them to retain conductivity
at very low relative humidities. Conductivity versus λ at
various temperatures for two homopolymers, poly(p-phenylene
2, 5-disulfonic acid), PPDSA, and poly(p-biphenylene 3,
3’-disulfonic acid), PBPDSA, is shown. Data are presented
and analyzed for PPDSA showing that the “frozen-in free
volume” for this material is about 63 cc per -SO3H group
(λ=3.5). Comparison of a graft polymer of PBPDSA with the
homopolymer showed that bulky grafted moieties facilitated
higher water absorption in the mid relative humidity range,
while hydrophobic bonding of the non-polar groups retarded
swelling at higher humidities.

Water-free proton-conducting polysiloxanes: A study on the effect of heterocycle structure

by Sergio Granados

Macromolecules 2007

Proton-conducting, thermally and electrochemically stable, heterocycle-grafted polysiloxanes have been synthesized via... more Proton-conducting, thermally and electrochemically stable, heterocycle-grafted polysiloxanes have been synthesized via hydrosilylation of vinyl or allyl functionalized weakly basic heterocyclic motifs with a polymethylhydrosiloxane precursor. The basicity of the amphoteric heterocycles was tuned by introducing electronwithdrawing groups, whose presence also produced a decrease in the polymers’ glass transition temperature. The proton conductivity depended strongly on the Tg of the polymer matrix and the volume fraction of proton carriers, while the effect of reducing the pKa of the heterocycle was less pronounced. The resulting polymers showed the
highest reported proton conductivities of up to 0.1 mS/cm at temperatures below 80 °C and up to 5 mS/cm at 180
°C when doped with trifluoroacetic acid.

A new class of polyelectrolytes, poly (phenylene sulfonic acids) and its copolymers as proton exchange membranes for PEMFC's

by Sergio Granados

Modelling of a PEM fuel cell system

by Kary Thanapalan

Co-authored with: Jonathan Williams, Guo-Ping Liu, David Rees
Published in Proceedings of the 17th World Congress, IFAC 2008

This paper considers modeling and simulation study of a fuel cell system. A mathematical model of a PEM Fuel Cell... more This paper considers modeling and simulation study of a fuel cell system. A mathematical model of a PEM Fuel Cell system is presented in this paper. For the convenience of presentation,cathode flow, anode flow, the membrane hydration, and voltage output expressions of the PEM fuel cell system are given in the paper to bridge a generic model tothe model of Fuel Cell Test station (FCT). Within the University research facilities, there is a PEM – FCT station available so the PEM-FCT is used for the simulation study. Comparisons are made between the simulation results from the mathematical model which is implemented inMATLAB/Simulink and FCT test data. A general agreement exists but where there are differencesand anomalies the paper gave reasons for this. Overall the PEM Fuel Cell(PEMFC) modelrepresents the FCT station. The PEMFC model can be used for controller development to improveFCT system performance.

Fuel cells for micro-combined heat and power generation

by Iain Staffell

published in Energy and Environmental Science
co-authored with A. Hawkes, D. Brett and N. Brandon

Micro-combined heat and power (CHP) holds great potential for lowering energy cost and CO2 emissions in the... more Micro-combined heat and power (CHP) holds great potential for lowering energy cost and CO2 emissions in the residential housing sector. Of the various micro-CHP technologies, fuel cells, and in particular solid oxide fuel cells, show great promise due to their high electrical efficiency and resulting low heat-to-power ratio that is better suited to residential applications. However, fuel cells are still under development and the capital cost of units available today remains high. This paper looks at the technological aspects and operating modes of fuel cells relevant to micro-CHP as well as examining the state of commercial development, life cycle issues and the techno-economics of fuel cells for micro-CHP at the residential scale.

Estimating future prices for stationary fuel cells with empirically derived experience curves

by Iain Staffell

published in the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy
co-authored with R.J. Green

Fuel cells presently require an order of magnitude cost reduction to become a commercial success in domestic energy... more Fuel cells presently require an order of magnitude cost reduction to become a commercial success in domestic energy markets. Previous analyses using learning curves have shown that competitive costs are feasible, but these have been unanimously based on theoretical estimates.

Empirical price data is presented for polymer electrolyte fuel cell CHP systems installed in Japanese homes between 2004 and 2008. Experience curves are fitted to this data, taking account of the number of systems produced before and during this period. The average unsubsidised price of a 0.7–1.0 kW system is ¥3.33 M (€23,000) as of early 2009, and has fallen by 19.1–21.4% for every doubling in production.

These empirical experience curves predict that prices will fall below €10,000/kW once 60–90 thousand units are sold; but that tens of millions of units are required before they reach cost targets of around €1000/kW. Even with rapid deployment, attaining unsubsidised economic viability before 2025 will be challenging.

Cost targets for domestic fuel cell CHP

by Iain Staffell

published in the Journal of Power Sources
co-authored with R.J. Green and K. Kendall

Fuel cells have the potential to reduce domestic energy bills by providing both heat and power at the point of use,... more Fuel cells have the potential to reduce domestic energy bills by providing both heat and power at the point of use, generating high value electricity from a low cost fuel. However, the cost of installing the fuel cell must be sufficiently low to be recovered by the savings made over its lifetime. A computer simulation is used to estimate the savings and cost targets for fuel cell CHP systems.

Two pitfalls of this kind of simulation are addressed: the selection of representative performance figures for fuel cells, and the range of houses from which energy demand data was taken. A meta-study of the current state of the art is presented, and used with 102 house-years of demand to simulate the range of economic performance expected from four fuel cell technologies within the UK domestic CHP market.

Annual savings relative to a condensing boiler are estimated at €170–300 for a 1kWe fuel cell, giving a target cost of €350–625/kW for any fuel cell technology that can demonstrate a 2.5-year lifetime. Increasing lifetime and reducing fuel cell capacity are identified as routes to accelerated market entry.

The importance of energy demand is seen to outweigh both economic and technical performance assumptions, while manufacture cost and system lifetime are highlighted as the only significant differences between the technologies considered. SOFC are considered to have the greatest potential, but uncertainty in the assumptions used precludes any clear-cut judgement.

A review of small stationary fuel cell performance

by Iain Staffell

The current technological status of four fuel cell technologies was reviewed, focusing on small (0.5-5kWe) stationary... more The current technological status of four fuel cell technologies was reviewed, focusing on small (0.5-5kWe) stationary units suitable for domestic CHP. These were polymer electrolyte
membrane fuel cells (PEM, PEMFC, PEFC, SPFC), solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC), phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFC), and alkaline fuel cells (AFC).

Seven categories of data were investigated that would impact on the performance of micro-CHP systems:
> Power density – power output per cm² of cell area, which determines the number of cells
(or stack area) required;
> Efficiency of the complete natural gas fuelled CHP system, at full and part load;
> Durability – the operating lifetime and rate of degradation of the fuel cell stack;
> Reliability of the system, including ancillary components;
> Current prices and estimated high-volume manufacturing costs;
> Start-up time and other dynamic constraints on power output;
> Fuel tolerance of the stack, which impacts on the required fuel processing stages.

Fuel cells for domestic heat and power: are they worth it?

by Iain Staffell

Doctoral thesis

Fuel cells could substantially decarbonise domestic energy production, but at what cost? Models were developed to... more Fuel cells could substantially decarbonise domestic energy production, but at what cost? Models were developed to simulate economic and environmental benefits of fuel cell micro-CHP in UK homes, and project current purchase costs into the future.

Data inputs were taken from a meta-review of field performance and energy consumption profiles from 259 UK houses. This model was validated, then used to simulate changes in energy consumption from operating four leading fuel cell technologies. Fuel cells offer negligible financial savings in the UK, increasing energy bills in 30-60% of homes. Britain’s proposed 10p/kWh feed-in tariff would radically improve this, rewarding owners with £600-750 annually. Fuel cells produce 360-450g/kWh of CO2, 30-45% less than the UK grid. Emission reductions depend strongly on displaced electricity generation methods, ranging from 0-5.5T/year.

From learning-by-doing, Japanese sale prices for 1kW PEMFC systems are projected to fall from £15,000 today to £6,000 within 10±5 years; however, a commercially viable price of around £3,000 is expected to be two decades away. The payback period of PEMFC is 25-45 years with the proposed feed-in tariff, falling to current system lifetimes within 5-10 years. Carbon mitigation costs would therefore be £750-950/T, varying substantially with marginal emissions and price reductions.

Review and analysis of fuel cell system modelling and control

by Kary Thanapalan

Co-authored with Liu.G.P., Williams.J.G., Wang.B., Rees.D
Published in Int. Journal of Computer Aided Engineering and Technology, Vol.1, No.2, pp145-157, 2009, ISSN:1757-2665, DOI:10.1504/IJCAET.2009.022783

This paper presents a review and analysis of a fuel cell system modelling and controller design for electric fuel cell... more This paper presents a review and analysis of a fuel cell system modelling and controller design for electric fuel cell vehicle applications. The paper begins by presenting the basic principal of PEM fuel cell dynamics. The work proceeds to investigate models and controller design techniques for fuel cell systems.

Fan selection and stack design for open-cathode polymer electrolyte fuel cell stacks

by Agus Pulung SASMITO

A.P. Sasmito, E. Birgersson, K.W. Lum, A.S. Mujumdar, Renewable Energy, Vol 37 (1), 325-332, 2012, DOI:10.1016/j.renene.2011.06.037

The design of open-cathode polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) stacks with forced-air convection from one or several... more The design of open-cathode polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) stacks with forced-air convection from one or several fans requires careful consideration of the characteristic curves of the stack and the fan(s). Ideally, the intersection – the operating point – between the stack and the fan characteristic curves should be located in the optimal operating region of the fan; and be sufficiently far away from any unstable region. In this paper, the effect of various fan and stack configurations, operating conditions and their impact on the fan and system characteristic curves as well as stack performance are investigated with a model considering two-phase flow and conservation of mass, momentum, species, charge, and energy in the PEFC stack and ambient; the fans are treated as interface conditions. The results indicate that the fan power rating, fan type, single fan or fans in series, fuel cell length, and separate air-coolant channels have a significant impact on the operating point and resulting stack performance – these factors therefore have to be accounted for when designing the PEFC stack and selecting fans. Furthermore, the results suggest that the stack characteristic curve can be secured by straight-forward air-flow simulations instead of solving a detailed, mechanistic fuel-cell model, allowing for more efficient model-based design studies of fans interacting with a PEFC stack.

Performance evaluation of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell with a dead-end anode: A computational fluid dynamic study

by Agus Pulung SASMITO

A.P. Sasmito and A.S. Mujumdar, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Vol 36 (17), 10917-10933, 2011, DOI:10.1016/j.ijhydene.2011.05.171

The operation of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) with a dead-end anode requires careful gas and water management... more The operation of polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) with a dead-end anode requires careful gas and water management to achieve optimal operating performance. The amount of water accumulated in the anode and nitrogen crossover are particularly important factors. To ascertain (i) the behavior of a PEFC with a dead-end anode, (ii) the accumulation of water and nitrogen in the anode cell with time, and (iii) efficient purging strategies to manage the gas and water, a transient PEFC model with a dead-end anode was developed and analyzed. The model assumes a two-phase flow and solves the governing equations of conservation of mass, momentum, species, energy, charge, coupled with a phenomenological membrane model and agglomerate model for catalyst layer. The model results indicate that water and nitrogen can accumulate in the anode region with time, such that the amount of available hydrogen decreases and hence the cell performance drops. The accumulation rate is found to be closely linked to the current that is drawn from the cell. Further, it is found that to alleviate the problem of build-up of nitrogen and water, the purge frequency and duration of the purge play important roles in affecting cell performance. The transient behavior and impact of the relevant operating conditions obtained from the simulation results can be used for development of efficient purging strategies.

Simulation of PEM fuel cell

by SUBHASISH MITRA

Fuel cells are emerging fast as next generation energy device. Among others, Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell finds... more Fuel cells are emerging fast as next generation energy device. Among others, Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cell finds its wide spread use in the automobile industry and domestic power supply segment. A PEM fuel cell process flow sheet has been simulated using HYSYS indicating possible heat integration scheme.

Influence of Proton Exchange Membrane Preconditioning Methods on the PEM Fuel Cell Performance

by Javier Parrondo

Barrio, A., Parrondo, J., Mijangos, F., and Lombrana, J.I. Influence of Proton Exchange Membrane Preconditioning Methods on the PEM Fuel Cell Performance. Journal of New Materials for Electrochemical Systems, 2009, 12, 87-91.

Polymeric cation exchange membranes (PEM) are used in fuel cell technology. These membrane, act like a physical... more Polymeric cation exchange membranes (PEM) are used in fuel cell technology. These membrane, act like a physical barrier between anode and cathode but the diffusion through membrane should allow the transport of protons from anode to cathode at a rate enough to requirements for supplying energy. Membrane has to be conditioned before use to improve performance. Chemical conditioning changes membrane counterion group and modifies its water content which affects to the diffusion coefficients. In order to analyse and quantify the effect of conditioning techniques on membrane performance various experiments with Nafion 117 cation exchange membrane were carried out. Some conditioning methods were carried out at room temperature and others at higher temperatures. Water content was
followed through measuring membrane swelling. Then, treated membranes were tested in a PEM fuel cell. The different membraneelectrodes were tested and polarization curves, impedance spectroscopy and lineal and cyclic voltammetries were carried out. Acid conditions and high temperatures around 80 ºC, used for preconditioning membranes, favoured maximum power obtained in a fuel cell up to 6
times that of a commercial supply.

High temperature PEMFC performance of PtxCoy/C cathodes

by Javier Parrondo

Venkateswararao, Ch., Parrondo, J., Ghatty, Sundara L., Rambabu, B. High temperature PEMFC performance of PtxCoy/C cathodes. Journal of Power Sources, 2010, 195, 3425-3430.

Carbon-supported Pt–Co alloy nanoparticles of varying Pt:Co atomic ratios of 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 and 4:1 are prepared, more Carbon-supported Pt–Co alloy nanoparticles of varying Pt:Co atomic ratios of 1:1, 2:1, 3:1 and 4:1 are prepared,
characterized and tested in high temperature PEM fuel cell intend to reduce the Pt loading. These electrocatalysts are prepared by borohydride reduction method in the presence of citric acid as stabilizing agent. Face-centered cubic structure of Pt is evident from XRD. The positive shift of Pt diffraction
peaks with increasing cobalt content in the PtxCoy/C catalysts indicated the solubility of Co in Pt lattice. The average crystallite size is found to be 6 nm in all the prepared catalysts. The electrochemical active surface area (EAS) of the catalysts from CO-stripping voltammetry is calculated to be 65.2, 51.4, 47.7, 41.5 and 38.3m2 g−1 Pt for Pt/C, Pt–Co(4:1)/C, Pt–Co(3:1)/C, Pt–Co(2:1)/C and Pt–Co(1:1)/C, respectively. These catalysts are used as cathode in the fabrication of polybenzimidazole-based membrane electrode assembly (MEA) and the polarization curves are recorded at 160 and 180 ◦C. The results indicate the good performance of Pt–Co alloys than that of Pt under the PEM fuel cell conditions. Among the investigated electrocatalysts, Pt–Co(1:1)/C and Pt–Co(2:1)/C exhibited good fuel cell performance. Durability tests also indicated the good stability of Pt–Co(1:1)/C and Pt–Co(2:1)/C compared to Pt/C.

Platinum/ tin oxide/ carbon cathode catalyst for high temperature PEM fuel cells

by Javier Parrondo

Parrondo, J., Mijangos, F., Rambabu, B. Platinum/ tin oxide/ carbon cathode catalyst for high temperature PEM fuel cells. Journal of Power Sources, 2010, 195, 3977-3983.

The performance of high temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) using platinum supported over tin oxide... more The performance of high temperature polymer electrolyte fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) using platinum supported over tin oxide and Vulcan carbon (Pt/SnOx/C) as cathode catalyst was evaluated at 160–200 ◦C and compared with Pt/C. This paper reports first time the Pt/SnOx/C preparation, fuel cell performance, and durability test up to 200 h. Pt/SnOx/C of varying SnO compositions were characterized using XRD,
SEM, TEM, EDX and EIS. The face-centered cubic structure of nanosized Pt becomes evident from XRD data. TEM and EDX measurements established that the average size of the Pt nanoparticles were ∼6 nm. Low ionic resistances were derived from EIS, which ranged from 0.5 to 5-cm2 for cathode and 0.05 to 0.1-cm2 for phosphoric acid, doped PBI membrane. The addition of the SnOx to Pt/C significantly
promoted the catalytic activity for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). The 7 wt.% SnO in Pt/SnO2/C catalyst showed the highest electro-oxidation activity for ORR. High temperature PEMFC measurements performed at 180 ◦C under dry gases (H2 and O2) showed 0.58V at a current density of 200mAcm−2, while only 0.40V was obtained in the case of Pt/C catalyst. When the catalyst contained higher concentrations of tin oxide, the performance decreased as a result of mass transport limitations within the electrode. Durability tests showed that Pt/SnOx/C catalysts prepared in this work were stable under fuel cell working conditions, during 200 h at 180 ◦C demonstrate as potential cathode catalyst for HT-PEMFCs.

Electrochemical performance measurements of PBI-based high temperature PEMFCs

by Javier Parrondo

Parrondo, J., Venkateswara Rao, Chitturi, Ghatty, S. L., Rambabu, B. Electrochemical performance measurements of PBI-based high temperature PEMFCs. International Journal of Electrochemistry, 2011, article ID 261065, 8 pag. doi:10.4061/2011/261065

Acid-doped poly(2,2-m-phenylene-5,5-bibenzimidazole) membranes have been prepared and used to assemble membrane... more Acid-doped poly(2,2-m-phenylene-5,5-bibenzimidazole) membranes have been prepared and used to assemble membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) with various contents of PBI (1–30wt.%) in the gas diffusion electrode (GDE). The MEAs were tested in the temperature range of 140◦C–200◦C showing that the PBI content in the electrocatalyst layer influences strongly the electrochemical performance of the fuel cell. The MEAs were assembled using polyphosphoric acid doped PBI membranes having conductivities of 0.1 S cm−1 at 180◦C. The ionic resistance of the cathode decreased from 0.29 to 0.14 Ohm-cm2 (180◦C) when the content of PBI is varied from 1 to 10wt.%. Similarly, the mass transfer resistance or Warburg impedance increased 2.5 times, reaching values of 6Ohm-cm2. 5wt.% PBI-based MEA showed the best performance. The electrochemical impedance measurements were in good agreement with the fuel cell polarization curves obtained, and the optimumperformance was obtained when overall resistance was minimal.

Electrocatalytic Performance of In2O3-Supported Pt/C Nanoparticles for Ethanol Electro-oxidation in Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells

by Javier Parrondo

Parrondo, J., Santhanam, R., Mijangos, F., Rambabu, B. Electrocatalytic Performance of In2O3-Supported Pt/C Nanoparticles for Ethanol Electro-oxidation in Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells. International Journal of Electrochemical Science, 2010, 5, 1342-1354

In2O3 supported Pt/C (Pt/C- In2O3) composite electrocatalysts has been prepared from In2O3
nanoparticles... more In2O3 supported Pt/C (Pt/C- In2O3) composite electrocatalysts has been prepared from In2O3
nanoparticles prepared by chemical reduction process and the commercially available Pt/C. X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) show that In2O3 nanoparticles are well distributed on Pt/C and In2O3 has the crystallite size of 20 nm. High resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM) also indicates that the In2O3 particles with a crystallite size of 5 nm are highly dispersed on the surface of the Pt/C. The Pt/C- In2O3 nanoparticles demonstrate a higher activity towards ethanol oxidation than Pt/C despite lower electrochemical surface area. Since Nafion membrane is not suitable for high operating temperature, the experiments are conducted using phosphoric acid doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane. Fuel cell polarization data are obtained using Pt/C and Pt/C-In2O3 at different high operating temperatures with oxygen as oxidant and ethanol as fuel. In all the test conditions, the performance of Pt/C-In2O3 is found to be higher compared to that of Pt/C. This result indicates the active participation of In2O3 significantly improves the catalytic activity of Pt/C in the ethanol oxidation process. Hence, these results suggest that In2O3 supported Pt/C assembled with PBI membrane could be considered as an effective composite electrocatalyst for ethanol oxidation at high temperature in direct ethanol fuel cells.

Nanocomposite hybrid membranes containing polyvinyl alcohol or poly(tetramethylene oxide) for fuel cell applications

by Javier Parrondo

Thanganathan, U., Parrondo, J., Rambabu, B. Nanocomposite hybrid membranes containing polyvinyl alcohol or poly(tetramethylene oxide) for fuel cell applications. Journal of Applied Electrochemistry, 2011, 41(5), 617-622

New hybrid membranes containing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and poly(tetramethylene oxide)(PTMO) with
heteropolyacid... more New hybrid membranes containing polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and poly(tetramethylene oxide)(PTMO) with
heteropolyacid (HPA) as a hydrophilic inorganic modifier in an organic/inorganic matrix were developed for low-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs).A maximum conductivity of 4.8 9 10-3 S cm-1 was obtained at 80 _C and 75% RH for PVA/PWA/PTMO/H3PO4 (10/15/ 70/5 wt%), whereas the  PVA/SiWA/MPTS/H3PO4 (50/10/ 10/30 wt%) membrane demonstrated a maximum conductivity
of 8.5 9 10-3 S cm-1 under identical conditions. These hybrid composite membranes were subsequently
tested in a fuel cell. A maximum current density of 240 mA cm-2 was produced at 70 _C for the PVA/PWA/
PTMO/H3PO4 membrane, and the corresponding value for the PVA/SiWA/MPTS/H3PO4 membrane under identical
conditions was 230 mA cm-2. The small deviations in cell performance can be explained in terms of the variations in
thickness of the membranes as well as differences in their conductivities. The fuel cell performances of these membranes decreased drastically when the temperature was increased to 100 C.

Cation-exchange membrane as nanoreactor: Intermatrix synthesis of platinum–copper core–shell nanoparticles

by Javier Parrondo

D.N. Muraviev, J. Macanas, J. Parrondo, M. Munoz, A. Alonso, S. Alegret, M. Ortueta and F. Mijangos

The physical and chemical properties of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) are distinct from those of both bulk metal and more The physical and chemical properties of metal nanoparticles (MNPs) are distinct from those of both bulk metal and
isolated atoms. The main drawback of MNP is their instability and high trend for aggregation. Without stabilization they
fuse together, losing their special shape and properties. The development of polymer-stabilized MNPs (PSMNPs) is one of
the most promising solutions to MNP stability problem. In this paper we report in situ synthesis and characterization of
PSMNPs, using the ion-exchange membranes as a nanoreactor. The membranes were prepared by using sulfonated poly(etherether ketone) of desired sulfonation degree (SD). The optimal SD provided a sufficiently high ion-exchange capacity and insolubility of the polymer in water and solubility in organic solvents (DMF). The membrane was loaded with metal ions (e.g., Cu2+) or complexes (e.g., [Pt(NH3)4]2+) followed by metal reduction inside the polymer matrix resulting in formation of either monometallic or bimetallic PSMNPs with core–shell structure. The MNP-containing membranes were characterized by electron microscopy to evaluate the morphological changes of the membranes and to estimate the MNPs size. The same membranes were also deposited on the surface of graphite–epoxy composite electrodes to study the electrochemical properties of polymer-PSMNP composites and to estimate their applicability in sensor designs. The presence of both Cu- and Pt/Cu-PSMNPs inside the membrane not only substantially improves the electric conductivity of the
polymer, but also testifies to the clearly pronounced strong electrocatalytic activity of PSMNPs towards analyte under
study (H2O2).