Improving the Overall Characteristics of Proton Exchange Membranes via Nanophase Separation Technologies: A Progress Review

Abstract

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) is one of the essential materials for proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMCF). The improvement of comprehensive characteristics of proton exchange membrane represents one of the most critical challenges for the large scale commercialization of proton exchange membrane fuel cells. In this paper, we review the recent developments of proton exchange membrane via nanophase separation technologies.

Imidazole-doped nanocrystalline cellulose solid proton conductor: synthesis, thermal properties, and conductivity

“…Such materials can find application in a variety of electrochemical devices including fuel cells which are of special interest because they permit clean and direct conversion from the chemical to electrical energy (Devanathan 2008;Sharaf and Orhan 2013;Zhang et al 2015;Hu et al 2017). A particularly important task is development of proton exchange membrane (PEM) as it allows transportation of protons from anode to cathode and plays a role of a separator between the two electrodes (Devanathan 2008;Sharaf and Orhan 2013;Zhang et al 2015;Hu et al 2017;Kreuer 1997;Schuster and Meyer 2003). A great challenge is to find an appropriate substance which would be able to fulfill both functions at the same time.…”

“…A great challenge is to find an appropriate substance which would be able to fulfill both functions at the same time. Several types of polymeric materials with high proton conductivity have been developed (Zhang et al 2015;Hu et al 2017;Gasteiger et al 2005;Curtin et al 2004;Song and Tsiakaras 2006;Xing and Savadogo 2000;Celik et al 2012;Savinell et al 1994;Li et al 2009;Mauritz and Moore 2004;Gierke et al 1981;Scott et al 2014) including polymers containing poly(tetrafluoroethylene) backbones with different anion-terminated side chains, such as Nafion (Devanathan 2008;Sharaf and Orhan 2013;Mauritz and Moore 2004;Gierke et al 1981). However, these materials exhibited high proton conductivity only in hydrated conditions, which limits the operating temperature of the device to about 90°C.…”

Preparation of poly(styrenesulfonic acid) grafted Nafion with a Nafion-initiated atom transfer radical polymerization for proton exchange membranes

“…The result suggests that the long PSSA chains of Naon-g-PSSA might enhance the extent of phase separation between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains of the Naon membranes, so as to increase the sizes of the protonconductive channels in the Naon membrane. 16,17 Nevertheless, the M-Naon-20 membrane shows a relatively small domain size compared that of M-Naon-15.…”

“…On the other hand, sulfonated hydrocarbon-based polymers and the corresponding polymer blends have been widely studied. [14][15][16][17] With sulfonic acid groups locally and densely attached to the polymer chains, some sulfonated hydrocarbon polymers have resulted in membranes showing similar hydrophobic/hydrophilic microphase separations, larger sulfonic acid domains, and high proton conductivities compared to the Naon-based membranes. For the sulfonated hydrocarbon-based polymers and membranes, the exible molecular and structural design and chemical synthesis could effectively widen the scope of this class of PEMs for FCs.…”

Synthesis and gas permeation properties of thermally rearranged poly(ether-benzoxazole)s with low rearrangement temperatures

“…Membrane technology has played a key role in many elds including gas separation, water treatment, fuel cells, etc. [1][2][3] The use of polymeric membranes in gas separation applications have been investigated in order to solve problems such as nitrogen and oxygen enrichment from air, purity of natural gas, SO 2 removal from ue gas, separation of organic gas mixtures and CO 2 capture for solving global warming. [4][5][6] In commercial polymers, polyimides (PIs) are employed for some special applications due to their excellent thermal resistance, chemical resistance and mechanical properties.…”