Development of Quaternized Chitosan Integrated with Nanofibrous Polyacrylonitrile Mat as an Anion-Exchange Membrane

Abstract

A two-phase anion-exchange membrane was prepared from quaternized chitosan (QCS) integrated with an electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) scaffold by spin coating. To synthesize QCS, glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride in various amounts was introduced into the structure of CS. The characterization of the cast cross-linked QCS (CQCS) membranes by impedance spectroscopy revealed the ionic conductivity (IC) in the range of 2.8 × 10–4 to 8.2 × 10–4 S cm–1 and the degree of quaternization (DQ) of 26.4–51.0%, where the CQCS film with the DQ of 51.0% showed excellent performance. When CQCS was reinforced with a PAN fiber mat, the newly developed composite membrane demonstrated the highest IC of 34 × 10–4 S cm–1 at 80 °C, low swelling, and an almost eightfold increase in tensile strength at a fully hydrated state compared to pristine materials. Moreover, the CQCS/PAN membrane was chemically stable and revealed increasing hydroxide transport during 1 month immersion in alkaline media.

All-Cellulose Bioplastics from Waste Wood Particles

“…We further made a comprehensive comparison, as shown in Figure c. The OCMF outperformed conventional petroleum-based plastics in aspects of biodegradability, thermostability, and low-value utilization and displayed a higher wet strength (32.34 ± 6.34 MPa) than the previously documented cellulose-based, chitin-based, and chitosan-based films (Figure d, wet strength: 2.8–26.72 MPa). − Coupled with these outstanding advantages, the transparent OCMF developed from waste wood provided an efficient approach as a high-performance bioplastic candidate.…”

“…(c) Qualitative radar plot comparing UCMF, OCMF, and plastics. (d) Wet and dry tensile strength of OCMF compared with the reported works, such as cellulose-based, chitin-based, and chitosan-based films. − …”

Review: chitosan-based biopolymers for anion-exchange membrane fuel cell application

“…Having free amino groups in the structure, CS can be efficiently functionalized (figure 2) [69]. Therefore, instead of using pristine CS, several research groups modified the CS material for AEM with various QA compounds, such as, glycidyltrimethylammonium chloride (GTMAC) [39,40,70,71], imidazolium group [20], hexadecyltrimethylammonium bromide [54] and 2,3,5-triphenyltetrazolium chloride [54].

Figure 2Chemical structure of CS, GTMAC and QCS.

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