Electrospun fibres from polyvinyl alcohol, poly(styrene sulphonic acid-co-maleic acid), and imidazole for proton exchange membranes

Abstract

Electrospun fibres from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), poly(styrene sulphonic acid-co-maleic acid) (PSSA-MA), and imidazole for potential use as proton conducting membranes at elevated temperatures were prepared and characterized. The effect of PSSA-MA content (9,17,25,33, 42, and 50% by weight of PVA) on solution properties was investigated. Fibre mats were obtained from solutions with 9-33% PSSA-MA. Solution viscosity increased with increasing PSSA-MA until reaching a maximum at 33% PSSA-MA. The effect of PSSA-MA content on fibre size and morphology was studied using scanning electron microscopy. Fibre diameter was found to increase with increasing solution viscosity. A solution with 25% PSSA-MA provided uniform and bead-free fibres with an average diameter of 485 nm. Thermal crosslinking of electrospun fibres was confirmed by attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis. Electrospun fibres were thermally stable up to 250°C. Fibres containing 25% PSSA-MA had a proton conductivity in nonhumidified conditions comparable to that of a solvent-cast membrane with the same composition. The proton conductivity of a solvent-cast membrane was slightly higher than that of fibres over the temperature range studied.

Polyacrylonitrile‐based proton conducting membranes containing sulfonic acid and tetrazole moieties

“…Asymmetric and symmetric stretching vibrations of SO in sulfonic acid of PSSA were at 1223, 1046, and 1001 cm −1 . The wagging vibration of CH in 1,4‐substituted benzene ring of PSSA was observed at 832 cm −1 . The conversion of nitrile to tetrazole was confirmed by the presences of CN stretching and CN bending of tetrazole at 1667 and 1556, and 1054 cm −1 , respectively, and a decrease in intensity of band relating to CN band of PAN at 2248 cm −1 in PAN‐ co ‐PVTz spectrum.…”

Electrospun nanofibre composite polymer electrolyte fuel cell and electrolysis membranes

“…By carefully adjusting these parameters along with other processing parameters such surface tension of the solvent, distance between the source electrode and the target substrate, temperature, humidity, solution flow rate, applied voltage etc., electrospinning of these sulfonated polymers can be favoured over their electrospraying [88,100]. Various sulfonated aromatic polymer such as sulfonated polystyrene, sulfonated poly (arylene ether sulfone), sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) have been electrospun into nanofibres without the use of any carrier polymer [100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107].…”

“…The latter of the above approaches was employed to prepare composite membranes of PFSA and polyvinylalcohol for DMFC and PEMFC applications. PVA is low cost and has lower methanol permeability than Nafion ® by two orders of magnitude, but is water soluble, which results in limited dimensional stability of composite membranes reinforced with electrospun PVA [107]. To limit this solubility, electrospun PVA mats were exposed to glutaraldehyde vapour to induce cross-linking between -OH side groups.…”

Preparation of KOH‐doped PVA/PSSA Solid Polymer Electrolyte for DMFC: The Influence of TiO2 and PVP on Performance of Membranes

“…Methanol permeation appears as a strong impediment for large-scale applications, due to the loss of fuel and typical reduction in the electrochemical performance of device [2,7,14,15].…”