A Brief Review of Poly(Vinyl Alcohol)-Based Anion Exchange Membranes for Alkaline Fuel Cells

Abstract

Anion exchange membrane fuel cells have unique advantages and are thus gaining increasing attention. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) is one of the potential polymers for the development of anion exchange membranes. This review provides recent studies on PVA-based membranes as alternative anion exchange membranes for alkaline fuel cells. The development of anion exchange membranes in general, including the types, materials, and preparation of anion exchange membranes in the last years, are discussed. The performances and characteristics of recently reported PVA-based membranes are highlighted, including hydroxide conductivity, water uptake, swelling degree, tensile strength, and fuel permeabilities. Finally, some challenging issues and perspectives for the future study of anion exchange membranes are discussed.

Recent Developments on Bioinspired Cellulose Containing Polymer Nanocomposite Cation and Anion Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cells (PEMFC and AFC)

“…Thus the developments of a wide variety of quaternary ammonium functionalized polymers, such as poly(arylene ether sulfone), poly(arylene ether ketone), poly (p-phenylene-co-aryl ether ketone), poly(isatin biphenylene), poly(ether ether ketone), and poly(phenylene oxide) are considered for AFC applications [ 145 , 146 , 147 , 148 , 149 , 150 ]. Recently, several nano- or micro-fillers were tested in composite AEMs to improve the performance of AFCs even more [ 151 , 152 , 153 , 154 , 155 ]. In this connection, the surface-modified different bioinspired materials, specifically quaternized, have been developed to be evaluated in the AFC system with and without additives and other polymers.…”

Research Progress in Energy Based on Polyphosphazene Materials in the Past Ten Years

“…Fuel cells operate on the same principle as conventional batteries, in which they transform chemical energy to electrical energy via an electrochemical redox reaction between the fuel and oxidant [ 82 ]. They can be divided into five types according to the different electrolytic components, namely, SOFC (solid oxide fuel cell), AFC (alkaline fuel cell), MCFC (molten carbonate fuel cell), PEMFC (proton exchange membrane fuel cell) and PAFC (phosphoric acid fuel cell) [ 83 ]. AEMFCs (anion exchange membrane fuel cells) and PEMFCs have received extensive research [ 84 , 85 ].…”

Hybrid polymer gels for energy applications

“…Finally, the organic-inorganic hybrid membranes are produced from nanoparticle growth, removal of impurities, and polymer curing. 56 In this review, we will discuss the PEM membranes made from hybrid polymeric gels or hybrid polymer membranes made by sol-gel techniques. There are few reviews in this regard 12,54,[57][58][59][60][61][62] and to keep updated the rapid growth in situ sol-gel template strategy facilitating the fabrication of new organic-inorganic hybrid proton exchange membranes showing outstanding properties would be discussed here.…”