DMFC Performance of Polymer Electrolyte Membranes Prepared from a Graft-Copolymer Consisting of a Polysulfone Main Chain and Styrene Sulfonic Acid Side Chains

Nobutaka Endo, Yoshiaki Ogawa, Kohei Ukai, Yuriko Kakihana and Mitsuru Higa
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Nobutaka Endo: Graduate School of Science and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, 2-16-1 Tokiwadai, Ube City, Yamaguchi 755-8611, Japan
Yoshiaki Ogawa: Graduate School of Science and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, 2-16-1 Tokiwadai, Ube City, Yamaguchi 755-8611, Japan
Kohei Ukai: Graduate School of Science and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, 2-16-1 Tokiwadai, Ube City, Yamaguchi 755-8611, Japan
Yuriko Kakihana: Center for Membrane and Film Technology, Department of Chemical Science and Engineering, Kobe University, 1-1 Rokkodaicho, Nada-ku, Kobe 657-8501, Japan
Mitsuru Higa: Graduate School of Science and Technology for Innovation, Yamaguchi University, 2-16-1 Tokiwadai, Ube City, Yamaguchi 755-8611, Japan

Energies, 2016, vol. 9, issue 8, 1-15

Abstract: Polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) applications were prepared from a graft-copolymer (PSF- g -PSSA) consisting of a polysulfone (PSF) main chain and poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) side chains with various average distances between side chains ( L av) and side chain lengths ( L sc). The polymers were synthesized by grafting ethyl p -styrenesulfonate (EtSS) on macro-initiators of chloromethylated polysulfone with different contents of chloromethyl (CM) groups, and by changing EtSS content in the copolymers by using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The DMFC performance tests using membrane electrode assemblis (MEAs) with the three types of the PEMs revealed that: a PSF- g -PSSA PEM (SF-6) prepared from a graft copolymer with short average distances between side chains ( L av) and medium L sc had higher DMFC performance than PEMs with long L av and long L sc or with short L av and short L sc. SF-6 had about two times higher PD max (68.4 mW/cm 2 ) than Nafion ® 112 at 30 wt % of methanol concentration. Furthermore, it had 58.2 mW/cm 2 of PD max at 50 wt % of methanol concentration because of it has the highest proton selectivity during DMFC operation of all the PSF- g -PSSA PEMs and Nafion ® 112.

Keywords: polysulfone; graft-copolymer; atom-transfer radical polymerization; polymer electrolyte membrane; direct methanol fuel cell (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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