Water Soluble Polymers as Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cells

Abstract

Abstract:The relentless increase in the demand for useable power from energy-hungry economies continues to drive energy-material related research. Fuel cells, as a future potential power source that provide clean-at-the-point-of-use power offer many advantages such as high efficiency, high energy density, quiet operation, and environmental friendliness. Critical to the operation of the fuel cell is the proton exchange membrane (polymer electrolyte membrane) responsible for internal proton transport from the anode to the cathode. PEMs have the following requirements: high protonic conductivity, low electronic conductivity, impermeability to fuel gas or liquid, good mechanical toughness in both the dry and hydrated states, and high oxidative and hydrolytic stability in the actual fuel cell environment. Water soluble polymers represent an immensely diverse class of polymers. In this comprehensive review the initial focus is on those members of this group that have attracted publication interest, principally: chitosan, poly (ethylene glycol), poly (vinyl alcohol), poly (vinylpyrrolidone), poly (2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propanesulfonic acid) and poly (styrene sulfonic acid). The paper then considers in detail the relationship of structure to functionality in the context of polymer blends and polymer based networks together with the effects of membrane crosslinking on IPN and semi IPN architectures. This is followed by a review of pore-filling and other impregnation approaches. Throughout the paper detailed numerical results are given for comparison to today's state-of-the-art Nafion ® based materials.

Improving the Conductivity of Sulfonated Polyimides as Proton Exchange Membranes by Doping of a Protic Ionic Liquid

“…1 H NMR and FTIR spectra were used to confirm the presence of the pendant -SO3H group on the monomer structure. From the 1 H NMR spectrum, there were three main peaks: 6.42, 6.78 and 7.05 ppm corresponding to H in the ortho-, meta-and ortho-(next to SO3H) positions of the amino group in a benzene ring.…”

“…Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) are considered to be the most promising power source for automotive transportation in order to preserve oil resources and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emission [1]. A PEMFC directly converts the chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen into electricity with a proton exchange membrane (PEM) as a key component.…”

Composite of Chitosan Vanilin / Sulfonated Polystyrene as Polymer Electrolyte Membranes : Cationic Exchange Capacity, Swelling Degree and Thermal Properties

“…Berbagai usaha telah dilakukan diantaranya pemakaian polimer alam (Mat and Liong, 2009;Ye et al, 2012), maupun sintetik (Smitha et al,2003;Iojoiu et al,2005. Polimer alam seperti kitosan dianggap cukup menjanjikan dalam aplikasi tersebut.…”

Recent advances in application of chitosan in fuel cells

“…There are different types of fuel cells that are generally characterized by electrolyte material. Among electrolyte material, solid polymer-based electrolyte membranes offer advantages such as high efficiency and high energy density [4]. However, polymer electrolyte membrane is the most expensive component of a polymer electrolyte-based fuel cell [5].…”

“…The presence of amino groups in the glucosamine residue imparts an additional characteristic feature to chitosan in comparison to these polysaccharides. The positive charge arising due to the highly protonated amino functionalities enables chitosan to form polyelectrolyte complexes spontaneously with a wide variety of negatively charged polyanions such as lipids, collagen, glycosaminoglycans, lignosulfonate, and alginate, as well as charged synthetic polymers and DNA through electrostatic interaction [4,7]. The objectives of the present review are to investigate the current status of fuel cells and advances in utilization of chitosan biopolymer for polymer electrolyte membrane technologies.…”