A review of quaternized polyvinyl alcohol as an alternative polymeric membrane in DMFCs and DEFCs

Abstract

Summary Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) and direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) have emerged as alternative power generators for portable devices and household appliances because of their easy and fast production of electricity, as well as high energy conversion to provide high‐power density. However, several critical factors limit the commercialization of DMFCs and DEFCs, particularly issues related to polymer electrolyte membranes, including the high‐cost production of Nafion membranes and cell degradation caused by high fuel crossover and dehydration. This review paper provides an overview of the current status and challenges in quaternized polyvinyl alcohol (QPVA)‐based membranes as an alternative polymer electrolyte membrane for DMFCs and DEFCs. The main advantages of using QPVA‐based membranes in fuel cells are reduced cost production of membrane, fuel‐crossover minimization, and competitive conductivity with Nafion membrane. The effects of modifying the QPVA‐based membrane, especially on conductivity properties, fuel crossover, uptake condition, mechanical, thermal, and chemical properties, and single‐cell performance are comprehensively discussed. The best performances of DMFCs and DEFCs with utilizing QPVA‐based membrane are reported as 272 and 144 mW cm−2, respectively. This paper is the first to highlight the current status and challenges of QPVA‐based membranes for DMFCs and DEFCs applications.

A Prospective Concept on the Fabrication of Blend PES/PEG/DMF/NMP Mixed Matrix Membranes with Functionalised Carbon Nanotubes for CO2/N2 Separation

“…The morphology and performance of membranes are significantly affected by parameters such as the type of polymer matrix and the inorganic fillers interacting between the two phases [ 110 ]. By using the appropriate inorganic filler material, the MMM’s permeability as a whole is enhanced and the transport properties of gases is improved [ 111 ].…”

“…However, as mentioned previously, some combinations with the polymer matrix can give poor results by lowering the selectivity and permeance. Furthermore, these inorganic fillers may not improve the separation performance sufficiently [ 110 ]. As such, researchers are designing MMMs which can disperse a combination of nano-sized fillers, resulting in better contact with the polymer matrix [ 6 ].…”

Poly(vinyl alcohol)‐based membranes for fuel cell and water treatment applications: A review on recent advancements

“…Additionally, presence of large number of hydroxyl groups within the chemical structure of PVA provides the necessary sites for tuning and facilitating membrane crosslinking, surface functionalization, reactive blending, polymer grafting and modification, interpenetrating network formation, metal chelation, and nanomaterial binding. A thorough literature survey reveals the existence of some important review articles on topics related to that discussed in this paper 13–16 . First literature report by Bolto et al 13 discusses about the various crosslinking processes used for bare PVA.…”

Polypyrrole nanowires as a cathode microporous layer for direct methanol fuel cell to enhance oxygen transport

“…Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) are candidates of hand-held electrical sources for their high specific energy, low environmental harm, and easy methanol storage. [1][2][3] The gas diffusion layer (GDL) has a prominent effect on the mass transport process of the DMFC. 4 The GDL is typically made up of a microporous layer (MPL) attached on a backing layer (BL).…”