Functionalized carbon layer for membrane degradation mitigation under fuel cell operating conditions

1. A membrane electrode assembly comprising:

a proton exchange membrane having an anode side and a cathode side;

a catalyst layer on each of the anode side and the cathode side of the proton exchange membrane, each catalyst layer comprising non-carbon catalyst particles comprising a noble metal supported on a non-carbon transition metal support, each catalyst layer having no carbon; and

a sulfonic acid functionalized carbon layer consisting essentially of sulfonic acid chemically bound to carbon, the sulfonic acid functionalized carbon layer provided between the proton exchange membrane and the catalyst layer on one of the anode side and the cathode side.

2. The membrane electrode assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sulfonic acid functionalized carbon layer is between the proton exchange membrane and the catalyst layer on the cathode side.

3. The membrane electrode assembly of claim 1 , further comprising another sulfonic acid functionalized carbon layer between the proton exchange membrane and the catalyst layer on the other of the anode side and the cathode side.

4. The membrane electrode assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sulfonic acid functionalized carbon layer comprises sulfonic acid functionalized carbon nanotubes.

5. The membrane electrode assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sulfonic acid functionalized carbon layer comprises sulfonic acid functionalized graphene.

6. The membrane electrode assembly of claim 1 , wherein the transition metal support comprises one or more of nickel, iron, cobalt and copper.

7. The membrane electrode assembly of claim 6 , wherein the noble metal comprises platinum.

8. The membrane electrode assembly of claim 1 , wherein the sulfonic acid functionalized carbon layer has a thickness between about 0.5 μm to about 3 μm.

9. The membrane electrode assembly of claim 1 , further comprising a gas diffusion layer on a respective catalyst layer opposite the proton exchange membrane.

10. A fuel cell comprising:

a proton exchange membrane having an anode side and a cathode side;

an anode catalyst layer on the anode side of the proton exchange membrane and a cathode catalyst layer on the cathode side of the proton exchange membrane, each of the anode catalyst layer and the cathode catalyst layer having no carbon and comprising a non-carbon catalyst including a metal alloy;

a gas diffusion layer on each of the anode catalyst layer and the cathode catalyst layer opposite the proton exchange membrane; and

a layer consisting of a sacrificial intercalating agent between the proton exchange membrane and one of the anode catalyst layer and the cathode catalyst layer, the sacrificial intercalating agent having sulfonate sites chemically attached to a carbon substrate that attract metal cations resulting from dissolution of the metal alloy prior to the metal cations reaching the proton exchange membrane.

11. The fuel cell of claim 10 , wherein the sacrificial intercalating agent is between the proton exchange membrane and the cathode catalyst layer.

12. The fuel cell of claim 11 , further comprising another sacrificial intercalating agent between the proton exchange membrane and the anode catalyst layer.

13. The fuel cell of claim 10 , wherein the sacrificial intercalating agent is a sulfonic acid functionalized carbon layer.

14. The fuel cell of claim 13 , wherein the sulfonic acid functionalized carbon layer comprises sulfonic acid functionalized carbon nanotubes.

15. The fuel cell of claim 13 , wherein the sulfonic acid functionalized carbon layer comprises sulfonic acid functionalized graphene.

16. The fuel cell of claim 10 , wherein the metal alloy comprises one or more of nickel, iron, cobalt and copper.

17. The fuel cell of claim 16 , wherein the metal alloy further comprises platinum.

18. The fuel cell of claim 10 , wherein the sacrificial intercalating agent has a thickness between about 0.5 μm to about 3 μm.