Enhancement of proton conductivity of polymer electrolyte membrane enabled by sulfonated nanotubes

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) with high proton conductivity is crucial to the commercial application of PEM fuel cell. Herein, sulfonated halloysite nanotubes (SHNTs) with tunable sulfonic acid group loading were synthesized and incorporated into sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) matrix t...

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Main Authors: Zhang, H., Ma, C., Wang, J., Wang, X., Bai, H., Liu, Jian
Format: Journal Article
Published: Elsevier Ltd 2014
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73499
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author Zhang, H.
Ma, C.
Wang, J.
Wang, X.
Bai, H.
Liu, Jian
author_facet Zhang, H.
Ma, C.
Wang, J.
Wang, X.
Bai, H.
Liu, Jian
author_sort Zhang, H.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Proton exchange membrane (PEM) with high proton conductivity is crucial to the commercial application of PEM fuel cell. Herein, sulfonated halloysite nanotubes (SHNTs) with tunable sulfonic acid group loading were synthesized and incorporated into sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) matrix to prepare nanocomposite membranes. Physicochemical characterization suggests that the well-dispersed SHNTs enhance the thermal and mechanical stabilities of nanocomposite membranes. The results of water uptake, ionic exchange capacity, and proton conductivity corroborate that the embedded SHNTs interconnect the ionic channels in SPEEK matrix and donate more continuous ionic networks. These networks then serve as proton pathways and allow efficient proton transfer with low resistance, affording enhanced proton conductivity. Particularly, incorporating 10% SHNTs affords the membrane a 61% increase in conductivity from 0.0152 to 0.0245 S cm-1. This study may provide new insights into the structure-properties relationships of nanotube-embedded conducting membranes for PEM fuel cell. Copyright © 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
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publishDate 2014
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-734992018-12-13T09:35:50Z Enhancement of proton conductivity of polymer electrolyte membrane enabled by sulfonated nanotubes Zhang, H. Ma, C. Wang, J. Wang, X. Bai, H. Liu, Jian Proton exchange membrane (PEM) with high proton conductivity is crucial to the commercial application of PEM fuel cell. Herein, sulfonated halloysite nanotubes (SHNTs) with tunable sulfonic acid group loading were synthesized and incorporated into sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) matrix to prepare nanocomposite membranes. Physicochemical characterization suggests that the well-dispersed SHNTs enhance the thermal and mechanical stabilities of nanocomposite membranes. The results of water uptake, ionic exchange capacity, and proton conductivity corroborate that the embedded SHNTs interconnect the ionic channels in SPEEK matrix and donate more continuous ionic networks. These networks then serve as proton pathways and allow efficient proton transfer with low resistance, affording enhanced proton conductivity. Particularly, incorporating 10% SHNTs affords the membrane a 61% increase in conductivity from 0.0152 to 0.0245 S cm-1. This study may provide new insights into the structure-properties relationships of nanotube-embedded conducting membranes for PEM fuel cell. Copyright © 2013, Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC. 2014 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73499 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2013.10.145 Elsevier Ltd restricted
spellingShingle Zhang, H.
Ma, C.
Wang, J.
Wang, X.
Bai, H.
Liu, Jian
Enhancement of proton conductivity of polymer electrolyte membrane enabled by sulfonated nanotubes
title Enhancement of proton conductivity of polymer electrolyte membrane enabled by sulfonated nanotubes
title_full Enhancement of proton conductivity of polymer electrolyte membrane enabled by sulfonated nanotubes
title_fullStr Enhancement of proton conductivity of polymer electrolyte membrane enabled by sulfonated nanotubes
title_full_unstemmed Enhancement of proton conductivity of polymer electrolyte membrane enabled by sulfonated nanotubes
title_short Enhancement of proton conductivity of polymer electrolyte membrane enabled by sulfonated nanotubes
title_sort enhancement of proton conductivity of polymer electrolyte membrane enabled by sulfonated nanotubes
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/73499