Silica-Added, Composite Poly(vinyl alcohol) Membranes for Fuel Cell Application

Panero, S.; Fiorenza, P.; Navarra, Maria Assunta; Romanowska, Jolanta; Scrosati, B.

doi:10.1149/1.2104207

Cited by 73 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…At present, alkaline DMFCs are being actively studied and a lot of progress has been made during the past few years [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15]. However, the development of the DMFC has been hampered due to several major problems, which are slow methanol oxidation kinetics and incomplete electro-oxidation of methanol, the poisoning of adsorbed intermediate species on the Pt surface, the high methanol crossover through the solid-state polymer Nafion (Du Pont) membrane, and the high costs of the Nafion polymer membrane and Pt catalyst.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alkaline direct methanol fuel cell based on a novel anion-exchange composite polymer membrane

Yang

2012

J Appl Electrochem

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The anion-exchange composite polymer membrane based on quaterized poly(vinyl alcohol)/poly(epichlorohydrin) (designated as Q-PVA/PECH) was prepared by a solution casting method and a quaternization process. The characteristic properties of the Q-PVA/PECH anionexchange composite polymer membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, micro-Raman spectroscopy, and AC impedance method. Alkaline direct methanol fuel cells (ADMFC) comprised Q-PVA/PECH anion-exchange composite polymer membranes were assembled and examined. Experimental results indicate that an alkaline DMFC employing an inexpensive non-perfluorinated Q-PVA/PECH composite polymer membrane shows excellent electrochemical performances. The peak power densities of the DMFC using 4 M KOH ? 1 M CH 3 OH, 2 M CH 3 OH, and 4 M CH 3 OH fuels are 17. 22, 22.30, and 20.81 mW cm -2 , respectively, under ambient conditions. The Q-PVA/PECH composite polymer membrane appears as a viable candidate for use in an ADMFC.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Alkaline direct methanol fuel cell based on a novel anion-exchange composite polymer membrane

Yang

2012

J Appl Electrochem

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“…In order to realize the optimum PEFC performance, the Nafion membrane needs to be fully wet as the proton conduction in Nafion relies on the dissociation of protons from the constituent SO 3 H groups in the presence of water. 2 However, the performance of PEFCs is enhanced at elevated temperatures by improved kinetics of the cathode and anode reactions and the reduction in adsorption of poisoned species such as CO. [3][4][5][6] To this end, Nafion-composite membranes suitably modified with ceramic/inorganic fillers, namely SiO 2 , TiO 2 , ZrO 2 , etc., are widely used [7][8][9][10][11][12][13] to facilitate proton conductivity in the membranes at elevated temperatures even under low relative humidity ͑RH͒ conditions. Watanabe et al 14 have employed modified Nafion membrane fabricated by incorporating nanosized particles of SiO 2 , TiO 2 , Pt, Pt-SiO 2 , and Pt-TiO 2 to alleviate the humidification requirements of PEFCs.…”

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confidence: 99%

A Sol-Gel Modified Alternative Nafion-Silica Composite Membrane for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Sahu

Selvarani

Pitchumani

et al. 2007

J. Electrochem. Soc.

124

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Nafion-silica composite membranes are fabricated by embedding silica particles as inorganic fillers in perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer by a novel water hydrolysis process. The process precludes the use of an added acid but exploits the acidic characteristic of Nafion facilitating an in situ polymerization reaction through a sol-gel route. The use of Nafion as acid helps in forming silica/siloxane polymer within the membrane. The inorganic filler materials have high affinity to water and assist proton transport across the electrolyte membrane of the polymer electrolyte fuel cell ͑PEFC͒ even under low relative humidity ͑RH͒ conditions. In the present study, composite membranes have been tested in hydrogen/oxygen PEFCs at varying RH between 100 and 18% at elevated temperatures. Attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy studies suggest an evenly distributed siloxane polymer with Si-OH and Si-O-Si network structures in the composite membrane. At the operational cell voltage of 0.4 V, the PEFC with an optimized silica-Nafion composite membrane delivers a peak power density value five times higher than that achievable with a PEFC with conventional Nafion-1135 membrane electrolyte while operating at a RH of 18% at atmospheric pressures. The polymer electrolyte fuel cell ͑PEFC͒ is an attractive power source for a variety of applications 1 due to its high efficiency and environment-friendly characteristics. The current PEFC technology utilizes perfluorosulfonic acid ͑PFSA͒ polymer membranes, e.g., Nafion, as electrolyte and hence is limited to low-temperature applications. In order to realize the optimum PEFC performance, the Nafion membrane needs to be fully wet as the proton conduction in Nafion relies on the dissociation of protons from the constituent SO 3 H groups in the presence of water.2 However, the performance of PEFCs is enhanced at elevated temperatures by improved kinetics of the cathode and anode reactions and the reduction in adsorption of poisoned species such as CO. [3][4][5][6] To this end, Nafion-composite membranes suitably modified with ceramic/inorganic fillers, namely SiO 2 , TiO 2 , ZrO 2 , etc., are widely used 7-13 to facilitate proton conductivity in the membranes at elevated temperatures even under low relative humidity ͑RH͒ conditions. Watanabe et al. 14 have employed modified Nafion membrane fabricated by incorporating nanosized particles of SiO 2 , TiO 2 , Pt, Pt-SiO 2 , and Pt-TiO 2 to alleviate the humidification requirements of PEFCs. When operated under low humidification, PEFCs with an alternative membrane reportedly exhibited lower ohmic drops in relation to Nafion. In situ platinum particulates with sorption of the water produced on the incorporated oxide fillers attribute such an improvement accompanied with suppression of hydrogen crossover. The benefits of these composite membranes appear to be in the steady operation of PEFCs at about 130°C due to the higher rigidity of the membranes in relation to commercial Nafion membra...

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“…65 summarized the materials which commonly used in DAFC membrane, which are the Nafion from Dupont, Sulfonated Poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK), and polyvinyl acetate (PVA). A lot of researchers [69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80] developed composites based on those materials to improve the efficiency of the DAFC. The development occurred in both PEM and AEM.…”

Section: Membrane In Direct Alcohol Fuel Cellsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recent advances on Zeolite modification for direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs)

Makertihartha¹,

Zunita²,

Rizki³

et al. 2017

AIP Conference Proceedings

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Abstract. The increase of energy demand and global warming issues has driven studies of alternative energy sources. The polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) can be an alternative energy source by (partially) replacing the use of fossil fuel which is in line with the green technology concept. However, the usage of hydrogen as a fuel has several disadvantages mainly transportation and storage related to its safety aspects. Recently, alcohol has gained attention as an energy source for fuel cell application, namely direct alcohol fuel cell (DAFC). Among alcohols, high-mass energy density methanol and ethanol are widely used as direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) and direct ethanol fuel cell (DEFC), respectively. Currently, the performance of DMFC is still rudimentary. Furthermore, the use of ethanol gives some additional privileges such as non-toxic property, renewable, ease of production in great quantity by the fermentation of sugar-containing raw materials. Direct alcohol fuel cell (DAFC) still has weakness in the low proton conductivity and high alcohol crossover. Therefore, to increase the performance of DAFC, modification using zeolite has been performed to improve proton conductivity and decrease alcohol crossover. Zeolite also has high thermal resistance properties, thereby increasing DAFC performance. This paper will discuss briefly about modification of catalyst and membrane for DAFC using zeolite. Zeolite modification effect on fuel cell performance especially proton conductivity and alcohol crossover will be presented in detail.

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Silica-Added, Composite Poly(vinyl alcohol) Membranes for Fuel Cell Application

Cited by 73 publications

References 22 publications

Alkaline direct methanol fuel cell based on a novel anion-exchange composite polymer membrane

Alkaline direct methanol fuel cell based on a novel anion-exchange composite polymer membrane

A Sol-Gel Modified Alternative Nafion-Silica Composite Membrane for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Recent advances on Zeolite modification for direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs)

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