Thermal Stability and Water Content Study of Void-Free Electrospun SPEEK/Cloisite Membrane for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Application

Abstract

Void-free electrospun SPEEK/Cloisite15A® densed (SP/e-spunCL) membranes are prepared. Different loadings of Cloisite15A® (0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25 and 0.30 wt %) are incorporated into electrospun fibers. The physico-chemical characteristics (methanol permeability, water uptake and proton conductivity) of the membranes are observed. Thermal stability of all membranes is observed using Thermal Gravimetry Analysis (TGA). The thrree stages of degradation range between 163.1 and 613.1 °C. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) is used to study the wettability of the membranes. SP/e-spunCL15 shows the lowest freezing bound water of 15.27%, which contributed to the lowest methanol permeability. The non-freezing bound water that proportionally increased with proton conductivity of SP/e-spunCL15 membrane is the highest, 10.60%. It is suggested that the electrospinning as the fabricating method has successfully exfoliated the Cloisite in the membrane surface structure, contributing to the decrease of methanol permeability, while the retained water has led to the enhancement of proton conductivity. This new fabrication method of SP/e-spunCL membrane is said to be a desirable polymer electrolyte membrane for future application in direct methanol fuel cell field.

Performance of Void-Free Electrospun SPEEK/Cloisite as a Function of Degree of Dispersion State on Nanocomposite Proton Exchange Membrane for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Application

“…The advantage of methanol as energy carrier are easy to transport and handle, easy to directly oxidized to carbon dioxide and water, less hazardous than hydrogen since the concentration that generally applied in DMFC is low (typically 1 Molar). Besides this, methanol can be produced from biodegradable sources and various natural sources for example wood, coal, and gas [1,2].…”

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

“…The modification membrane is thermally stable compared to pure polymer . Besides, the high operating temperature will be enhanced the performance of the QPVA‐based membrane due to the high kinetic of reactance that provides high redox reaction frequently to obtain high power density and cell voltage . Therefore, the thermal stability properties should be examined to assess the capabilities of QPVA‐based membrane that operate at high temperature in applications of DMFCs and DEFCs.…”

Composite Proton Electrolyte Membranes C Poly Ether-Ether Ketone (SPEEK) at Various Amount of Mesoporous Phosphotungstic Acid (mPTA) for Hydrogen Fuel Cell Application

“…Table 1 shows the composition of the SPEEK-mPTA designated in this study. The reference for the values of SPEEK and mPTA was described elsewhere [12][13][14].…”

“…(1) near the channel wall via the bound water, in which proton is transported by the Grotthuss mechanism, hopping from one ionic site to the other; and (2) via free water by vehicle mechanism, in which proton is facilitated by the water molecules moving through the interconnected central channel space [23]. Grotthuss mechanism plays an important role in this.…”