Preparation and characterization of PVdF nanofiber ion exchange membrane for the PEMFC application

Abstract

A B S T R AC TThis paper reports the preparation and characterization of polyvinylidene fl uoride (PVdF) nanofi ber ion exchange membrane for the application in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). The composite membrane of PS/PVdF was prepared by using the electrospinning method with PVdF solution in a mixed solvent of DMAc and acetone by pore-fi lling with a mixture of styrene and PS using DVB as cross-linking reagent. Ion exchange mem-brane (SPS/PVdF) was then manufactured by introducing sulfonate (-SO 3 H) groups using sul-furic acid on the prepared PS/PVdF membranes. The modified membranes were characterized by fourier transform infrared (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS), water uptake, ion exchange capacity (IEC), electrical conductivity and membrane & electrode assembly (MEA). By controlling the content of PS, characteristics comparable to Nafion which has water uptake, IEC and electrical conductivity values suited for the application in PEMFC could be observed in modified membranes. In particular, not only water uptake values (90-550%) were much higher than that of Nafion 115, but also IEC values were more than double the values of Nafion 115. As of the results of electrical conductivity measurements and MEA tests, SPS/PVdF membranes showed the possibility of being an alternative membrane for Nafion 115 due to their improved properties.

Electrospun nanofibre composite polymer electrolyte fuel cell and electrolysis membranes

“…An overview of membranes incorporating inert electrospun nanofibres is shown in Table 1. Typical polymers that have been used to produce electrospun reinforcements include polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polystyrene (PS), polysulfone (PSU and polyimide (PI) [63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75].…”

Ordered exfoliated silicate platelets architecture: hydrogen bonded poly(acrylic acid)–poly(ethylene oxide)/Na–montmorillonite complex nanofibrous membranes prepared by electrospinning technique

“…The composite is suggested to be of benet in exchange-proton membranes in fuel cells, tissue engineering, drug delivery and wastewater treatment, as a result of easy availability of functional groups, high specic surface area, well-arranged pores as well as superior specications of two-dimensional clay layered nanoplatelets such as enhanced thermal, mechanical and barrier properties along with their biocompatibility. [26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39] The as-synthesized composite bers were investigated by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), thermogravimetric (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetric (DSC) analysis.…”