Potential of Nafion /eggshell composite membrane for application in direct methanol fuel cell

Abstract

Summary Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) have great potential for portable electronics applications. However, several problems, such as methanol crossover and the cost of Nafion membranes, restrict the commercialisation of this technology. The main objective of this study was to produce a high‐selectivity membrane from waste material. Following the current trend of ‘waste‐to‐wealth’, eggshell powder is selected as the filler in the Nafion matrix. The materials are analysed using physical and electrochemical characterisation. The composite membrane with a 3 wt% filler content resulted in the highest selectivity of 28.73 × 104 S s cm−3, proton conductivity of 0.2414 S cm−1 and methanol permeability of 8.40 × 10−7 cm2 s−1. The single‐cell performance test shows that the power density is 19.34 mW cm−2 for the composite membrane and that it has comparable performance with a commercial Nafion 117 membrane. These results confirm the potential of eggshell powder to be incorporated as a filler in a Nafion matrix for applications in DMFC.

Application of biowaste and nature-inspired (nano)materials in fuel cells

“…Naon/eggshell composite membranes were formed via the solvent-casting method, and then utilized in a DMFC as the electrolyte. 194 Although the tensile strength of the composite with 3 wt% eggshell powder ller (8.22 MPa) was lower than that of Naon® 117 (31.29 MPa), its Young's modulus (246.942 MPa) was higher than that of Naon® 117 (127.559 MPa). Also, its water uptake and proton conductivity were 87.27% and 0.2414 S cm −1 , respectively, which were higher than that of Naon® 117.…”

Modified Cellulose Proton-Exchange Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

“…The modification of commercial PEMs (e.g., Nafion membranes) and composites with commercial PFSA membranes provides significant enhancement in performance as well as a decrease in the overall membrane cost [ 142 , 143 , 144 ]. To identify the impact of CNCs on commercial membranes, a multi-layer (ML) membrane comprising Nafion 211 and Nafion 212 with a spray-coated CNC layer for DMFCs was prepared ( Figure 3 ) [ 145 ].…”

A comparative study on sPEEK‐based composite membranes with various inorganic fillers using different preparation routes for DMFCs

“…For example, P M of pristine Nafion 117 was found to be 6.04 Â 10 À7 cm 2 s À1 , 27,37,40 22.3 Â 10 À7 cm 2 s À1 , 41 23 Â 10 À7 cm 2 s À1 , 42 5.2 Â 10 À7 cm 2 s À1 , 43 8.66 Â 10 À7 cm 2 s À1 . 6 It is more appropriate to use φ values to compare the performances of the membranes in DMFC applications since this value considers both the proton conductivity and methanol permeability. In the same figure, it was obvious that the selectivity values of all composite membranes were higher than that of pristine sPEEK.…”

“…In that study, a composite membrane with a high selectivity ratio was obtained from waste material. 6 In another approach, the composite membranes with improved properties were fabricated using layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly of Nafion. Shen et al deposited 2-10 bilayers of chitosan (CS) and silicotungstic acid (SiWA) on Nafion 212 to inhibit the permeation of methanol through the membrane.…”