Recent advances in designing and tailoring nanofiber composite electrolyte membranes for high-performance proton exchange membrane fuel cells

As the critical component of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), proton exchange membrane (PEM) determine its overall performance. Current PEMs hardly meet the operating requirements of fuel cells, limiting their commercial applications. With the development of nanocomposite technology, nanofibers introduced into PEMs to prepare nanofiber composite proton exchange membranes (NCPEMs) have been widely studied. In an NCPEM, nanofibers can form long-range channels for proton transport, and reinforced skeleton to reach the target performance of PEMFCs. Focusing on NCPEM, this paper reviews on recent progresses in nanofiber preparation and NCPEM preparation techniques. Furthermore, different types of nanofibers incorporated into NCPEMs are reviewed in terms of fiber composition. The challenges and future perspectives regarding NCPEMs are also discussed. • The preparation methods of NCPEMs are discussed in detail. • The NCPEMs containing organic, inorganic, and organic-inorganic nanofibers are reviewed. • Key challenges and future perspectives of NCPEMs are introduced.