Synthesis and Characterization of Sulfonated Polybenzimidazole (SPBI) Copolymer for Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell

2013 ◽  
Vol 860-863 ◽  
pp. 803-806 ◽  
Author(s):  
Loh Kee Shyuan ◽  
Eng Lee Tan ◽  
Wan Ramli Wan Daud ◽  
Abu Bakar Mohamad

A diverse sulfonated polybenzimidazole copolymer (SPBI) as proton exchange membrane was synthesiszed via one-step high temperature polymerization method with 3,3-diaminobenzidine (DABD), 5-sulfoisophthalic acid (SIPA), 4,4-sulfonyldibenzoic acid (SDBA) and biphenyl-4,4-dicarboxylic acid (BDCA). The SPBI membrane was prepared through a direct hot-casting and in situ phase inversion technique. Characterization tests were carried out on the membranes including surface morphology, distribution of elements on the membrane, determination of functional groups, thermal stability, ion exchange capacity, water uptake rate and proton conductivity. The as-synthesized SPBI membrane displayed a smooth surface via scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis which is thermally stable up to 443 °C. The SPBI membrane showed higher water uptake rate (WUR) and proton conductivity though it had lower ion exchange capacity (IEC) value compared to recast Nafion membrane. The proton conductivity of the SPBI membrane with IEC of 0.60 mmol/g was 4.50 × 10-2 S/cm at 90 °C. This study shows that the SPBI membrane has great potential in polymer exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications.

2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 56-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tetsuya Yamaki ◽  
Junichi Tsukada ◽  
Masaharu Asano ◽  
Ryoichi Katakai ◽  
Masaru Yoshida

We prepared novel ion exchange membranes for possible use in polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) by the radiation-induced graft copolymerization of styrene and new crosslinker bis(vinyl phenyl)ethane (BVPE) into crosslinked polytetrafluoroethylene (cPTFE) films and subsequent sulfonation and then investigated their water uptake, proton conductivity, and stability in an oxidizing environment. In contrast to the conventional crosslinker, divinylbenzene (DVB), the degree of grafting of styrene∕BVPE increased in spite of high crosslinker concentrations in the reacting solution (up to 70mol%). Quantitative sulfonation of the aromatic rings in the crosslinked graft chains resulted in the preparation of membranes with a high ion exchange capacity that reached 2.9meq∕g. The bulk properties of the membranes were found to exceed those of Nafion membranes except for chemical stability. The emphasis was on the fact that the BVPE-crosslinked membranes exhibited the higher stability in the H2O2 solution at 60°C compared to the noncrosslinked and DVB-crosslinked ones, as well as decreased water uptake and reasonable proton conductivity. These results are rationalized by considering the reactivity between styrene and the crosslinker, which is an important factor determining the distribution of the crosslinks in the graft component. In the case of BVPE, the crosslinks at a high density were homogeneously incorporated even into the interior of the membrane because of its compatibility with styrene while the far too reactive DVB led to a crosslink formation only near the surface. The combination of both the cPTFE main chain and BVPE-based grafts, i.e., a perfect “double” crosslinking structure, is likely to effectively improve the membrane performances for PEFC applications.


2020 ◽  
Vol MA2020-02 (38) ◽  
pp. 2442-2442
Author(s):  
Garrett Huang ◽  
Mrinmay Mandal ◽  
Alexandra Dobbs ◽  
Katelyn Groenhout ◽  
Paul A Kohl

Author(s):  
D. Vidhyeswari ◽  
A. Surendhar ◽  
S. Bhuvaneshwari

Abstract The aim of this study is to synthesis SPEEK composite proton exchange membrane with the addition of TiO2 nanofillers for microbial fuel cell application. SPEEK composite membrane with varying weight percentage of TiO2 (2.5, 5, 7.5 and 10%) was prepared to study the effect of TiO2 concentration on membrane performance. Synthesized composite membranes were subjected to various characterization studies such as FT-IR, XRD, Raman spectroscopy; TGA, UTM and SEM. Physico-chemical properties of membrane such as water uptake capacity, ion exchange capacity and thickness were also analyzed. 5% TiO2 – SPEEK composite membrane exhibited the higher water uptake capacity value and Ion exchange capacity value of 31% and 1.71 meq/g respectively. Performance of the MFC system with TiO2 – SPEEK membranes were evaluated and compared with the pristine SPEEK and Nafion membrane. 5% TiO2 – SPEEK membrane produced the higher power density (1.22 W/m2) and voltage (0.635 V) than the other membranes investigated. Efficacy of MFC in wastewater treatment was evaluated based on the chemical oxygen demand (COD), total organic carbon content and turbidity. Biofilm growth over the surface of the electrodes was also analyzed using scanning electron microscopy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 313 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Ridwan Septiawan ◽  
Dian Permana ◽  
Sitti Hadijah Sabarwati ◽  
La Ode Ahmad ◽  
La Ode Ahmad Nur Ramadhan

Chitosan was modified by maleic anhydride, and it was then functionalized using heterogeneous and blending method to obtain the membrane. The results of the reaction between chitosan with maleic anhydride were signed by the new peak appears around 1475 cm-1 which attributed to C=C bending of alkene. The new peak also appears at 1590 cm-1 which attributed to N-H bending of amide. Chitosan-maleic anhydride membranes show microstructure of chitosan membrane with high porous density and rigidity while chitosan-maleic anhydride membranes have clusters. In addition, the thermal tenacity of membranes reached 500 °C. Modified membrane by heterogeneous and blending method have higher water uptake, ion exchange capacity, and proton conductivity than chitosan membrane. Moreover, the blending method is much more effective than the heterogeneous method that can be exhibited from ion exchange capacity and proton conductivity values of 1.08–6.38 meq g-1 and 1x10-3–1x10-2 S cm-1, 0.92–2.27 meq g-1 and 1.53x10-4–3.04x10-3 S cm-1, respectively. The results imply that modification of chitosan membrane with the addition of maleic anhydride using heterogeneous and blending method can be applied to proton exchange membrane.


Membranes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 395
Author(s):  
Jonathan Teik Ean Goh ◽  
Ainul Rasyidah Abdul Rahim ◽  
Mohd Shahbudin Masdar ◽  
Loh Kee Shyuan

The polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) is a key component in the PEM fuel cell (PEMFC) system. This study highlights the latest development of PEM technology by combining Nafion® and ionic liquids, namely 2–Hydroxyethylammonium Formate (2–HEAF) and Propylammonium Nitrate (PAN). Test membranes were prepared using the casting technique. The impact of functional groups in grafting, morphology, thermal stability, ion exchange capacity, water absorption, swelling and proton conductivity for the prepared membranes is discussed. Both hybrid membranes showed higher values in ion exchange capacity, water uptake and swelling rate as compared to the recast pure Nafion® membrane. The results also show that the proton conductivity of Nafion®/2–HEAF and Nafion®/PAN membranes increased with increasing ionic liquid concentrations. The maximum values of proton conductivity for Nafion®/2–HEAF and Nafion®/PAN membranes were 2.87 and 4.55 mScm−1, respectively, equivalent to 2.2 and 3.5 times that of the pure recast Nafion® membrane.


In this study the cation exchange membranes(CEM) were fabricated using 3 different compositions of sulphonated poly vinyl alcohol (SPVA) and phosphorylated graphene oxide(PGO) in weight ratios by physicalmixing and casting method. Loading of PGO in the SPVA improvedwater uptake property which signifies increase in ion exchange capacity(IEC) and proton conductivity as presence of acidic groups were characterized. These fabricated membranes performances were assessed in microbial fuel cells(MFCs) and characterized using XRD and FTIR for its compositional analysis. Due to proper proton conducting channelsmost suitable CEM (SPVA-PGO-3) revealed higher proton conductivity 9.0 x 10-2 S/cm at 27oC, water uptake 114%, area swelling 54.2% and ion exchange capacity (IEC) 1.92 meq/g. The power density obtained for this composite membrane applied in MFC-3 was observed to be 503.1 mW/m2 while the COD removal results obtained as 80.8 %.


Polymers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 914 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lucia Mazzapioda ◽  
Stefania Panero ◽  
Maria Assunta Navarra

Nafion composite membranes, containing different amounts of mesoporous sulfated titanium oxide (TiO2-SO4) were prepared by solvent-casting and tested in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), operating at very low humidification levels. The TiO2-SO4 additive was originally synthesized by a sol-gel method and characterized through x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and ion exchange capacity (IEC). Peculiar properties of the composite membranes, such as the thermal transitions and ion exchange capacity, were investigated and here discussed. When used as an electrolyte in the fuel cell, the composite membrane guaranteed an improvement with respect to bare Nafion systems at 30% relative humidity and 110 °C, exhibiting higher power and current densities.


2014 ◽  
Vol 666 ◽  
pp. 3-7
Author(s):  
Theampetch Apichaya ◽  
Paweena Prapainainar ◽  
Chaiwat Prapainainar

In this paper, proton conducting composite membranes of Nafion®-mordenite for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) were prepared using solution casting method. Mordenite, used as inorganic filler, was incorporated into Nafion polymer in order to improve membrane properties for DMFC application. Effect of solution casting temperature on resulting composite membranes was focused. The temperature of the membrane preparation was varied from 80 to 120°C. Properties and morphology of the resulting membranes including solubility, water uptake, ion – exchange capacity were investigated and reported. It was found that composite membrane prepared at 100°C gave the most alcohol resistance and mechanical stability membrane with 0.59% soluble. Furthermore, it gave highest ion – exchange capacity, 0.10 meq⋅g-1, which is 33% and 98% higher than the membranes prepared at 80°C and 120°C respectively.


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