Ion-Exchange-Induced Selective Etching for the Synthesis of Amino-Functionalized Hollow Mesoporous Silica for Elevated-High-Temperature Fuel Cells

© 2017 American Chemical Society. As differentiated from conventional synthetic processes, amino-functionalized hollow mesoporous silica (NH 2 -HMS) has been synthesized using a new and facile strategy of ion-exchange-induced selective etching of amino-functionalized mesoporous silica (NH 2 -meso-s...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhang, J., Liu, Jian, Lu, S., Zhu, H., Aili, D., De Marco, Roland, Xiang, Y., Forsyth, M., Li, Q., Jiang, S.
Format: Journal Article
Published: American Chemical Society 2017
Online Access:https://orbit.dtu.dk/en/publications/ion-exchange-induced-selective-etching-for-the-synthesis-of-amino
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/63314
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Summary:© 2017 American Chemical Society. As differentiated from conventional synthetic processes, amino-functionalized hollow mesoporous silica (NH 2 -HMS) has been synthesized using a new and facile strategy of ion-exchange-induced selective etching of amino-functionalized mesoporous silica (NH 2 -meso-silica) by an alkaline solution. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and in situ time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) reveal that ion-exchange-induced selective etching arises from the gradient distribution of OH - in the NH 2 -meso-silica nanospheres. Moreover, the ion-exchange-induced selective etching mechanism is verified through a successful synthesis of hollow mesoporous silica. After infiltration with phosphotungstic acid (PWA), PWA-NH 2 -HMS nanoparticles are dispersed in the poly(ether sulfone)-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PES-PVP) matrix, forming a hybrid PWA-NH 2 -HMS/PES-PVP nanocomposite membrane. The resultant nanocomposite membrane with an optimum loading of 10 wt % of PWA-NH 2 -HMS showed an enhanced proton conductivity of 0.175 S cm -1 and peak power density of 420 mW cm -2 at 180 °C under anhydrous conditions. Excellent durability of the hybrid composite membrane fuel cell has been demonstrated at 200 °C. The results of this study demonstrated the potential of the facile synthetic strategy in the fabrication of NH 2 -HMS with controlled mesoporous structure for application in nanocomposite membranes as a technology platform for elevated-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells.