Efficient Chitosan/Nitrogen-Doped Reduced Graphene Oxide Composite Membranes for Direct Alkaline Ethanol Fuel Cells

Abstract

Herein, we prepared a series of nanocomposite membranes based on chitosan (CS) and three compositionally and structurally different N-doped graphene derivatives. Two-dimensional (2D) and quasi 1D N-doped reduced graphene oxides (N-rGO) and nanoribbons (N-rGONRs), as well as 3D porous N-doped graphitic polyenaminone particles (N-pEAO), were synthesized and characterized fully to confirm their graphitic structure, morphology, and nitrogen (pyridinic, pyrrolic, and quaternary or graphitic) group contents. The largest (0.07%) loading of N-doped graphene derivatives impacted the morphology of the CS membrane significantly, reducing the crystallinity, tensile properties, and the KOH uptake, and increasing (by almost 10-fold) the ethanol permeability. Within direct alkaline ethanol test cells, it was found that CS/N rGONRs (0.07 %) membrane (Pmax. = 3.7 mWcm−2) outperformed the pristine CS membrane significantly (Pmax. = 2.2 mWcm−2), suggesting the potential of the newly proposed membranes for application in direct ethanol fuel cells.

The efficiency of chitosan-graphene oxide composite membranes modified with genipin in fuel cell application

“…Neat CS membranes were prepared according to our recently published approach. [2] For the preparation of CS/GEN and CS/GEN/N-rGO membranes, the 1 wt. % GEN solution in ethanol and 1 % N-rGO dispersion were respectively added to 25 mL of 1 % CS dispersion, to final concentration of 0.002 % (denominated as 100 µL), 0.004 % (200 µL), 0.020 % (500 µL) and 0.040 % w/v (1000 µL) for GEN and 0.01 %, 0.04 % and 0.07 % w/v for N-rGO.…”

“…Electrodes were prepared as described in our previous work. [2] The Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEAs) with 2 x 2 cm 2 were prepared by placing the membrane electrolyte between the electrodes. The MEAs were assembled in a self-constructed DAEFC.…”

“…[1] Natural polymers, such as chitosan (CS), have been recognised as a potential alternative to synthetic AEMs. [2] CS is a deacetylated chitin product found in the exoskeleton of invertebrates and the cell walls of fungi, consisting predominantly of 2-amino-2-deoxy-Dglucopyranose units, linked by ß-1,4-bond. Aside from the reported attributes of this material in fuel cell applications, its mechanical weakness and swelling related to OHgroups abundance and lack of ion-transporting moieties seek its augmentation into a more complex molecular arrangement.…”

Recent Advances in Chitin and Chitosan/Graphene-Based Bio-Nanocomposites for Energetic Applications

“…Gorgieva et al examined an effective chitosan-based N-doped rGO composite membrane for alkaline fuel cells. In this work, chitosan- and graphene-based homogenous materials were engineered using a variety of self-induced methods [ 165 ].…”

High oxygen barrier chitosan films neutralized by alkaline nanoparticles

“…4)-Nacetyl-D-glucosamine, this polymer evidence promise in various fields. Some of them are food packaging (Božič et al 2011(Božič et al , 2012Manigandan et al 2018), cosmetics (Hirano et al 1991), biomedicine (Gorgieva and Kokol 2012;Reddy Tiyyagura et al 2016;Gorgieva et al 2018;Wang et al 2020), agriculture (Bandara et al 2020), wastewater management (No and Meyers 2000), fuel cells (Kaker et al 2019;Gorgieva et al 2021;Hren et al 2021), etc. CS films have been successfully used as packaging materials to preserve the quality of a wide variety of fruits (raspberry, apple, kiwi (Drevinskas et al 2017), strawberry) and even meats (chicken, turkey, beef, pork, and fish) (Homez-Jara et al 2018).…”