New Insights into Properties of Methanol Transport in Sulfonated Polysulfone Composite Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells.
Polymers (Basel)
; 13(9)2021 Apr 24.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33923207
ABSTRACT
Methanol crossover through a polymer electrolyte membrane has numerous negative effects on direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) because it decreases the cell voltage due to a mixed potential (occurrence of both oxygen reduction and methanol oxidation reactions) at the cathode, lowers the overall fuel utilization and contributes to long-term membrane degradation. In this work, an investigation of methanol transport properties of composite membranes based on sulfonated polysulfone (sPSf) and modified silica filler is carried out using the PFG-NMR technique, mainly focusing on high methanol concentration (i.e., 5 M). The influence of methanol crossover on the performance of DMFCs equipped with low-cost sPSf-based membranes operating with 5 M methanol solution at the anode is studied, with particular emphasis on the composite membrane approach. Using a surface-modified-silica filler into composite membranes based on sPSf allows reducing methanol cross-over of 50% compared with the pristine membrane, making it a good candidate to be used as polymer electrolyte for high energy DMFCs.
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Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Polymers (Basel)
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Itália