Sulfonated polyvinylidene fluoride and functional copolymer based blend proton exchange membrane for fuel cell application and studies on methanol crossover

Sandip Pal, Rakhi Mondal and Uma Chatterjee

Renewable Energy, 2021, vol. 170, issue C, 974-984

Abstract: Copolymers of poly(methyl methacrylate)-co-poly (2-acrylamido-2-methyl-1-propane sulfonic acid (PMMA-co-PAMPS) have been prepared via radical polymerization with different MMA to AMPS mol ratio and blended with polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and sulfonated PVDF (S-PVDF) in a different weight ratio to prepare proton exchange membranes (PEMs) by simple solution casting method for fuel cells application (PEMFCs). Five different PEMs have been prepared from only PMMA-co-PAMPS, blending PMMA-co-PAMPS with PVDF, and also by blending PMMA-co-PAMPS with S-PVDF to get the suitable membrane for PEMFCs application. We have also studied the effect of PVDF and S-PVDF in the blend membranes on the water uptake, mechanical stability, thermal stability, proton conductivity (Km), and methanol permeability (PM) properties. PEMs prepared by blending with S-PVDF exhibited high Km and low PM value. PEM-5 membrane prepared by blending S-PVDF with PMMA-co-PAMPS (30:70 w/w) exhibited Km at room temperature 5.7 × 10−2 S/cm, PM value 5.24 × 10−7 cm2/s and maximum power density 477 mW/cm2. This PM value is much lower than that of the Nafion® 117 membrane (22 × 10−7 cm2/s). This low PM, high Km and high selectivity make the S-PVDF blend membranes a good candidate in PEMFCs or direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) application.

Keywords: Sulfonated poly(vinylidene fluoride); Blend membrane; Proton exchange membrane; Methanol permeability; Relative selectivity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:170:y:2021:i:c:p:974-984

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2021.02.046

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