Insight toward the Electrochemical Properties of Sulfonated Poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) via Impregnating Functionalized Boron Nitride: Alternate Composite Polymer Electrolyte for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell

Abstract

A series of polymer electrolytes of sulfonated poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) (sPPO) in combination with two-dimensional sulfonated boron nitride (s-BN) has been synthesized to form composite polymer electrolytes for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The sulfonation of boron nitride (BN) has been confirmed by XPS, FT-IR, and elemental analysis. The composite membranes have been characterized for their water content, ion transport phenomenon, and thermo-mechanical stabilities along with methanol crossover resistance. Further, s-BN shows good dispersion in sPPO composite membranes by forming amplified longrange ionic clusters via hydrophilic or hydrogen bonding interaction between the s-BN and sPPO matrix. The optimized s-BN/sPPO (5 wt %) composite membrane reveals 67% higher proton conductivity and one-third methanol permeability compared to pristine sPPO membrane. The s-BN/sPPO (5 wt %) composite membrane presents a DMFC peak power density of 122 mW/cm 2 , which is higher than the peak power densities of 88 and 60 mW/cm 2 for Nafion 117 and pristine sPPO, respectively. The preferential increase in electrochemical selectivity of composite membranes suggests their potential in DMFCs.

Towards Integration of Two-Dimensional Hexagonal Boron Nitride (2D h-BN) in Energy Conversion and Storage Devices

“…A low methanol permeability of 2.04 × 10 −7 cm 2 /s was also obtained in sPPO/sBN, which is significantly lower than sPPO and Nafion (three and nine times, respectively). This is due to interfacial interactions of sPPO and sBN, as well as the barrier effect of sBN owing to its 2D structure, which hinders the methanol crossover [153]. Moreover, the overall performance of the cells indicated a high peak power density of 122 mW/cm 2 for sPPO/sBN, which is two times higher than that of sPPO.…”

“…However, since a higher degree of sulfonation might reduce its stability, incorporating different additives would be beneficial [152]. Covalent functionalization of h-BN with the hydrophilic acidic group makes them well-dispersed in the sPPO matrix [153]. Experimental results show that adding 5 wt.% sBN can result in 168 % increase in Young's modulus of sPPO.…”

Transcrystalline growth of PLLA on carbon fiber grafted with nano-SiO 2 towards boosting interfacial bonding in bone scaffold

“…2 d). In addition, the Si2p peaks of CF-KH550 and CF-SiO 2 –2 were fitted to three binding energy peaks at 102.3 eV, 103.4 eV and 101.7 eV, which were assigned to Si-OH, Si-O-Si and Si-O-C, respectively [ 39 , 40 ], as shown in Figs. 2 e-f.…”

Synthesis and Modification of Boron Nitride Nanomaterials for Electrochemical Energy Storage: From Theory to Application

“…In addition, sulfonic‐functionalized BN with 1‐pyrenesulfonic acid could be used for more efficient proton transport. Similar BN‐based polymer composite membranes include sulfonated poly (2,6‐dimethyl‐1,4‐phenylene oxide) combined with 2D BN, [ 267 ] polyetherimide/acid‐treated halloysite/activated h‐BN, [ 265 ] and Nafion–BN. [ 268 ] For example, Parthiban and Sahu explored the potential of sulfonated h‐BN as a Nafion hybrid proton exchange membrane filler in DMFCs.…”

“…(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) combined with 2D BN, [267] polyetherimide/acid-treated halloysite/activated h-BN, [265] and Nafion-BN. [268] For example, Parthiban and Sahu explored the potential of sulfonated h-BN as a Nafion hybrid proton exchange membrane filler in DMFCs.…”