Novel Proton Exchange Membranes Based on Sulfonated Poly(acrylonitrile- co -glycidyl methacrylate)/Poly(vinyl chloride) Composite

Eman A. El Desouky (), Emad A. Soliman, Hessa H. Al-Rasheed, Ayman El-Faham and M. A. Abu-Saied ()
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Eman A. El Desouky: Textile Technology Program, Faculty of Industrial and Energy Technology, Borg EL-Alarb Technological University, New Borg El-Arab City 21934, Alexandria, Egypt
Emad A. Soliman: Polymeric Materials Research Department, Advanced Technology and New Materials Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-CITY), New Borg El-Arab City 21934, Alexandria, Egypt
Hessa H. Al-Rasheed: Department of Chemistry, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh 11451, Saudi Arabia
Ayman El-Faham: Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Alexandria University, Ibrahimia 21321, Alexandria, Egypt
M. A. Abu-Saied: Polymeric Materials Research Department, Advanced Technology and New Materials Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications (SRTA-CITY), New Borg El-Arab City 21934, Alexandria, Egypt

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 14, 1-24

Abstract: In this study, novel proton exchange membranes (PEMs) based on a composite of sulfonated polyacrylonitrile (SPAN), sulfonated polyglycidyl methacrylate (SPGMA), or sulfonated poly(acrylonitrile-co-glycidyl methacrylate) (SP(AN- co -GMA))/polyvinyl chloride (PVC) were developed to be used for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). After polymerization and sulfonation of the prepared polymers, the polyelectrolyte membranes were prepared by the casting and solvent evaporation technique for sulfonated homo- or co-polymers with polyvinyl chloride (PVC) composites. The resulting membranes were characterized by Fourier infrared and Raman spectral analyses, X-ray diffractometry, and scanning electron microscopy. The findings of this study reveal that both the thermal stability and ion exchange capacity of the composite membranes based on sulfonated copolymers were higher than that of their corresponding composites based on sulfonated homopolymers. In this context, the weight loss percentage of the prepared composite polyelectrolyte membranes did not exceed 12% of their initial weights. The IEC of all the composite membranes ranged from 0.18 to 0.48 meq/g. Thus, the IEC value increased with the increasing proportion of the glycidyl methacrylate comonomer. Moreover, the prepared PEMs based on SP(AN- co -GMA)/PVC composites showed lower methanol permeability (8.7 × 10 −7 cm 2 /s) than that of the Nafion membranes (3.39 × 10 −6 cm 2 /s). Therefore, these prepared PEMs are a good candidate for DMFCs applications.

Keywords: sulfonated polyacrylonitrile; sulfonated polyglycidyl methacrylate; sulfonated poly(acrylonitrile- co -glycidyl methacrylate); polyvinylchloride; solvent evaporation technique; methanol permeability; composite membrane; proton exchange membrane; direct methanol fuel cells (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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