Enhanced mechanical properties and proton conductivity of Nafion–SPEEK–GO composite membranes for fuel cell applications

ABSTRACTGraphene oxide (GO) is one of the most attractive inorganic nanofillers in proton exchange membranes (PEMs) for its large specific surface area and high proton conductivity. The proton conductivity of GO nanosheet is known to be orders of magnitude greater than the bulk GO, thus it is essential to improve the dispersion of GO nanosheets in the PEM matrix to achieve higher conductivity. In this study, we report a facile and effective method to fabricate a GO/sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) composite membrane with well-dispersed GO nanosheets in SPEEK matrix by using electrospinning technique for direct methanol fuel cell application. The composite membrane exhibits improved proton conductivity, dimensional stability and methanol barrier property due to the presence of well-dispersed GOs. It is believed that the GO nanosheets can not only induce continuous channels for proton-conducting via Grotthuss mechanism, but also act as methanol barriers to hinder the methanol molecules from passing through the membrane.

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Nafion – Azole Composite Membranes for High Temperature PEMFC

Materials Science Forum ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/msf.783-786.1692 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 783-786 ◽

pp. 1692-1697

Author(s):

Je Deok Kim ◽

Mun Suk Jun

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Thermal Stability ◽

High Temperature ◽

Proton Conductivity ◽

Composite Membrane ◽

Room Temperature ◽

Composite Membranes ◽

Thermal And Mechanical Properties ◽

High Proton Conductivity ◽

High Proton

Nafion-azole (benzimidazole, 1,2,4-triazole, 1,2,3-triazole) composite membranes were prepared by room temperature and autoclave solution processing for high temperature (above 100 °C) PEMFC. Among the various Nafion – azole composite membranes, Nafion – 1,2,3-triazole membrane showed excellent flexibility, thermal stability, and homogeneous structure. Nafion – 1,2,4-triazole composite membrane had high thermal and mechanical properties, and also showed high proton conductivity of 0.02 S/cm at the temperature of 160 °C under dry (N2) condition.

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Role of phosphate source in improving the proton conductivity of tin pyrophosphate and its composite electrolytes

Journal of Materials Chemistry A ◽

10.1039/d0ta04327c ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (32) ◽

pp. 16345-16354

Author(s):

Kannan P. Ramaiyan ◽

Sergio Herrera ◽

Michael J. Workman ◽

Troy A. Semelsberger ◽

Vladimir Atanasov ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cell ◽

Proton Conductivity ◽

Composite Membranes ◽

Cell Performance ◽

Composite Electrolytes ◽

Fuel Cell Performance ◽

Phosphate Source ◽

Phosphorus Precursor

Proper phosphorus precursor selection during synthesis could help produce better tin-pyrophosphate powder and composite membranes with improved fuel cell performance.

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Preparation, Proton Conductivity and Mechanical Properties of Nafion 117-Zirconium Phosphate Sulphophenylphosphonate Composite Membranes

Fuel Cells ◽

10.1002/fuce.200800128 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 9 (4) ◽

pp. 381-386 ◽

Cited By ~ 32

Author(s):

M. Casciola ◽

D. Capitani ◽

A. Donnadio ◽

V. Frittella ◽

M. Pica ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Proton Conductivity ◽

Zirconium Phosphate ◽

Composite Membranes

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Nanocomposite SPEEK/Titania Nanosheets (TNS) Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications

Key Engineering Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.421-422.447 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 421-422 ◽

pp. 447-450 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Debora Marani ◽

S. Licoccia ◽

Enrico Traversa ◽

Masaru Miyayama

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cell ◽

Proton Conductivity ◽

Water Uptake ◽

Proton Exchange Membrane ◽

Composite Membranes ◽

Proton Exchange Membranes ◽

Structural Features ◽

Proton Exchange ◽

Unique Nature ◽

Exchange Membrane

SPEEK-based composite membranes containing various amounts of titania nanosheets (TNS) as inorganic fillers were investigated for proton exchange membrane fuel cell applications. The samples were characterized for water uptake, proton conductivity (EIS), and structural features (SEM and XRD). Composites at low inorganic additive contents exhibited improved properties in terms of proton conductivity and water uptake behavior. Best improvements were observed for the composite containing only 0.95 wt% of TNS. This result could be associated to the unique nature of the two dimensional nanostructure of the inorganic additive.

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Novel Composite Membranes Based on Polyaniline/Ionic Liquids for PEM Fuel Cells Applications

Key Engineering Materials ◽

10.4028/www.scientific.net/kem.865.55 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 865 ◽

pp. 55-60

Author(s):

Ahmed Eisa ◽

Amani Al-Othman ◽

Mohammad Al-Sayah ◽

Muhammad Tawalbeh

Keyword(s):

Ionic Liquids ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Proton Conductivity ◽

Composite Membranes ◽

Pem Fuel Cells ◽

Proton Conductors ◽

Cell Efficiency ◽

Modern Development ◽

And Performance ◽

Free Membrane

The modern development of (PEMFCs) is still faced by several obstacles such as membrane cost and performance. Perfluorosulfonic acid membranes (e.g. Nafion of DuPont) are currently the most successful in PEMFCs. PEMFCs usually operate at temperatures around 80°C and at atmospheric pressure. Higher temperature operation (T >100°C) is preferred and has several advantages including enhanced fuel cell kinetics, improved catalysts tolerance for contaminants and recovery of useful heat. However, the high-temperature operation is not permitted using Nafion membranes as they dehydrate and their proton conductivity dramatically decreases, thus, lowering the fuel cell efficiency. Therefore, this work aims at developing a Nafion-free membrane that would successfully operate at higher temperatures and with reasonable proton conductivity (preferably higher than 10-3 S/cm). In this study, novel solid proton conductors based on polyaniline (PANI) and ionic liquids (ILs) are proposed as membranes in PEMFCs. PANI-IL composite membranes are fabricated using porous polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) as support. The composite membrane was evaluated for its proton conductivity. The results showed a high proton conductivity range of 0.01 to 0.02 S/cm when a 3.7 wt % of the ionic liquid (IL)[1-Hexyl-3-Methylimidazolium Tricyanomethanide] was used.

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Coordination polymer glass from a protic ionic liquid: proton conductivity and mechanical properties as an electrolyte

Chemical Science ◽

10.1039/d0sc01737j ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (20) ◽

pp. 5175-5181 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Tomohiro Ogawa ◽

Kazuki Takahashi ◽

Sanjog S. Nagarkar ◽

Koji Ohara ◽

You-lee Hong ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Ionic Liquid ◽

Fuel Cell ◽

Coordination Polymer ◽

Solid Electrolyte ◽

Proton Conductivity ◽

Protic Ionic Liquid ◽

Proton Conducting ◽

Polymer Glass

A proton-conducting coordination polymer glass derived from a protic ionic liquid works as a moldable solid electrolyte and the anhydrous fuel cell showed I–V performance of 0.15 W cm−2 at 120 °C.

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Mechanical Properties and Chemical Durability of Nafion/Sulfonated Graphene Oxide/Cerium Oxide Composite Membranes for Fuel-Cell Applications

Polymers ◽

10.3390/polym12061375 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (6) ◽

pp. 1375 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Dong Chan Seo ◽

Ikseong Jeon ◽

Eun Suk Jeong ◽

Jae Young Jho

Keyword(s):

Mechanical Properties ◽

Tensile Strength ◽

Graphene Oxide ◽

Cerium Oxide ◽

Proton Conductivity ◽

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane ◽

Radical Scavenging ◽

Composite Membranes ◽

Chemical Durability ◽

Sulfonated Graphene

To improve both the mechanical and chemical durability of Nafion membranes for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel-cells (PEMFCs), Nafion composite membranes containing sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) and cerium oxide (CeO2; ceria) were prepared by solution casting. The structure and chemical composition of SGO were investigated by FT-IR and XPS. The effect of the sulfonation, addition of SGO and ceria on the mechanical properties, proton conductivity, and chemical stability were evaluated. The addition of SGO gave rise to an increase in the number of sulfonic acid groups in Nafion, resulting in a higher tensile strength and proton conductivity compared to that of graphene oxide (GO). Although the addition of ceria was found to decrease the tensile strength and proton conductivity, Nafion/SGO/ceria composite membranes exhibited a higher tensile strength and proton conductivity than recast Nafion. Measurement of the weight loss and SEM observations of the composite membranes after immersing in Fenton’s reagent indicate an excellent radical scavenging ability of ceria under radical degradation conditions.

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Transport Properties and Mechanical Features of Sulfonated Polyether Ether Ketone/Organosilica Layered Materials Nanocomposite Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications

Membranes ◽

10.3390/membranes10050087 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 10 (5) ◽

pp. 87 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Cataldo Simari ◽

Apostolos Enotiadis ◽

Isabella Nicotera

Keyword(s):

Fuel Cell ◽

Mechanical Strength ◽

Transport Properties ◽

Proton Conductivity ◽

Composite Membranes ◽

Significant Advance ◽

Nanocomposite Membranes ◽

Polyether Ether Ketone ◽

Sulfonated Polyether Ether Ketone ◽

Ether Ketone

In this work, we study the preparation of new sulfonated polyether ether ketone (sPEEK) nanocomposite membranes, containing highly ionic silica layered nanoadditives, as a low cost and efficient proton exchange membranes for fuel cell applications. To achieve the best compromise among mechanical strength, dimensional stability and proton conductivity, sPEEK polymers with different sulfonation degree (DS) were examined. Silica nanoplatelets, decorated with a plethora of sulfonic acid groups, were synthesized through the one-step process, and composite membranes at 1, 3 and 5 wt% of filler loadings were prepared by a simple casting procedure. The presence of ionic layered additives improves the mechanical strength, the water retention capacity and the transport properties remarkably. The nanocomposite membrane with 5% wt of nanoadditive exhibited an improvement of tensile strength almost 160% (68.32 MPa,) with respect to pristine sPEEK and a ten-times higher rate of proton conductivity (12.8 mS cm−1) under very harsh operative conditions (i.e., 90 °C and 30% RH), compared to a filler-free membrane. These findings represent a significant advance as a polymer electrolyte or a fuel cell application.

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