Investigation of ion transport and water content properties in anion exchange membranes based on polysulfone for solid alkaline fuel cell application

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 School of Chemical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Narmak, Tehran 16846-13114, Iran

2 School of Chemical Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

3 Green Research Center (GRC) & School of Chemical Engineering (SChE) Iran University of Science & Technology

Abstract

In present research work, homogeneous anion exchange membranes based on polysulfone (QAPSFs) were prepared via chloromethylation, amination and alkalization. In amination step, trimethylamine and N,N,N',N'-tetramethyl-1,6-hexanediamine were used as amination and crosslinking agents, respectively. The chloromethylated polysulfone was characterized by 1HNMR spectroscopy and chloromethylation degree was calculated using peak area integration. Ion transport properties such as ionic conductivity, ion exchange capacity, activation energy for hydroxide ion transport were measured for the prepared anion exchange membranes. Furthermore, water content associated properties such water uptake and hydrated number were determined for these membranes. According to the obtained results, the membrane with crosslinking agent (QAPSF-2) shows ion transport properties nearly similar to the membrane without crosslinker (QAPSF-1). Although, QAPSF-2 has more improved water content associated properties and reasonable dimensional stability in contrast to QAPSF-1. Finally, According to the ionic transport measurements and water content characterizations, the prepared QAPSF membranes can be denoted as good candidates for solid alkaline fuel cell application.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

[1] Couture G, Alaaeddine A, Boschet F, Ameduri B. Polymeric materials as anion-exchange membranes for alkaline fuel cells. Prog. Polym. Sci. 2011;36:1521-57.
[2] Merle G, Wessling M, Nijmeijer K. Anion exchange membranes for alkaline fuel cells: A review. J. Membr. Sci. 2011;377:1-35.
[3] Wang Y-J, Qiao J, Baker R, Zhang J. Alkaline polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cell applications. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2013;42:5768-87.
[4] Zeng R, R. Varcoe J. Alkaline Anion Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cells- A Patent Review. Recent Pat. Chem. Eng. 2011;4:93-115.
[5] Nonjola PT, Mathe MK, Modibedi RM. Chemical modification of polysulfone: Composite anionic exchange membrane with TiO2 nano-particles. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2013;38:5115-21.
[6] Gopi KH, Peera SG, Bhat SD, Sridhar P, Pitchumani S. Preparation and characterization of quaternary ammonium functionalized poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide) as anion exchange membrane for alkaline polymer electrolyte fuel cells. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy 2014;39:2659-68.
[7] Liu L, Li Q, Dai J, Wang H, Jin B, Bai R. A facile strategy for the synthesis of guanidinium-functionalized polymer as alkaline anion exchange membrane with improved alkaline stability. J. Membr. Sci. 2014;453:52-60.
[8] Yan X, Gu S, He G, Wu X, Zheng W, Ruan X. Quaternary phosphonium-functionalized poly(ether ether ketone) as highly conductive and alkali-stable hydroxide exchange membrane for fuel cells. J. Membr. Sci. 2014;466:220-8.
[9] Yan X, Wang Y, He G, Hu Z, Wu X, Du L. Hydroxide exchange composite membrane based on soluble quaternized polyetherimide for potential applications in fuel cells. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy. 2013;38:7964-72.
[10] Lu W, Shao Z-G, Zhang G, Zhao Y, Yi B. Crosslinked poly(vinylbenzyl chloride) with a macromolecular crosslinker for anion exchange membrane fuel cells. J. Power Sources. 2014;248:905-14.
[11] Zhao Y, Pan J, Yu H, Yang D, Li J, Zhuang L, et al. Quaternary ammonia polysulfone-PTFE composite alkaline anion exchange membrane for fuel cells application. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy. 2013;38:1983-7.
[12] Mabrouk W, Ogier L, Vidal S, Sollogoub C, Matoussi F, Fauvarque JF. Ion exchange membranes based upon crosslinked sulfonated polyethersulfone for electrochemical applications. J. Membr. Sci. 2014;452:263-70.
[13] Roddecha S, Dong Z, Wu Y, Anthamatten M. Mechanical properties and ionic conductivity of electrospun quaternary ammonium ionomers. J. Membr. Sci. 2012;389:478-85.
[14] Abuin GC, Nonjola P, Franceschini EA, Izraelevitch FH, Mathe MK, Corti HR. Characterization of an anionic-exchange membranes for direct methanol alkaline fuel cells. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy. 2010;35:5849-54.
[15] Arges CG, Ramani V, Pintauro PN. Anion exchange membrane. Electrochem. Soc. Interface. 2010:31-5.
[16] Wang G, Weng Y, Chu D, Chen R, Xie D. Developing a polysulfone-based alkaline anion exchange membrane for improved ionic conductivity. J. Membr. Sci. 2009;332:63-8.
[17] Pantamas N, Khonkeng C, Krachodnok S, Chaisena A. Ecofriendly and Simplified Synthetic Route for Polysulfone-based Solid-State Alkaline Electrolyte Membrane. Am. J. Appl. Sci. 2012;9:1577.
[18] Zeng L, Zhao TS. High-performance alkaline ionomer for alkaline exchange membrane fuel cells. Electrochem. Commun. 2013;34:278-81.
[19] Vinodh R, Purushothaman M, Sangeetha D. Novel quaternized polysulfone/ZrO2 composite membranes for solid alkaline fuel cell applications. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy. 2011;36:7291-302.
[20] Avram E, Butuc E, Luca C, Druta I. Polymers with Pendant Functional Group. III. Polysulfones Containing Viologen Group. J. Macromol. Sci., Part A: Pure Appl. Chem. 1997;34:1701-14.
[21] Zhang S, Li C, Xie X, Zhang F. Novel cross-linked anion exchange membranes with diamines as ionic exchange functional groups and crosslinking groups. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy. 2014;39:13718-24.
[22] Wang W, Wang S, Li W, Xie X, lv Y. Synthesis and characterization of a fluorinated cross-linked anion exchange membrane. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy. 2013;38:11045-52.
[23] Pan J, Lu S, Li Y, Huang A, Zhuang L, Lu J. High-Performance Alkaline Polymer Electrolyte for Fuel Cell Applications. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2010;20:312-9.
[24] Roddecha S, Dong Z, Wu Y, Anthamatten M. Mechanical properties and ionic conductivity of electrospun quaternary ammonium ionomers. J. Membr. Sci. 2012;389:478-85.
[25] Qiao J, Fu J, Liu L, Liu Y, Sheng J. Highly stable hydroxyl anion conducting membranes poly (vinyl alcohol)/poly (acrylamide-co-diallyldimethylammonium chloride)(PVA/PAADDA) for alkaline fuel cells: Effect of cross-linking. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy. 2012;37:4580-9.
[26] Wang X, Li M, Golding BT, Sadeghi M, Cao Y, Yu EH, et al. A polytetrafluoroethylene-quaternary 1,4-diazabicyclo-[2.2.2]-octane polysulfone composite membrane for alkaline anion exchange membrane fuel cells. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy. 2011;36:10022-6.
[27] Park J-S, Park S-H, Yim S-D, Yoon Y-G, Lee W-Y, Kim C-S. Performance of solid alkaline fuel cells employing anion-exchange membranes. J. Power Sources. 2008;178:620-6.
[28] Li X, Wang L, Cheng S. Investigation on structure and properties of anion exchange membranes based on tetramethylbiphenol moieties containing copoly(arylene ether)s. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015;132.
[29] Jheng L-c, Hsu SL-c, Lin B-y, Hsu Y-l. Quaternized polybenzimidazoles with imidazolium cation moieties for anion exchange membrane fuel cells. J. Membr. Sci. 2014;460:160-70.
[30] Li X, Yu Y, Liu Q, Meng Y. Synthesis and characterization of anion exchange membranes based on poly (arylene ether sulfone) s containing various cations functioned tetraphenyl methane moieties. Int. J. Hydrogen Energy. 2013;38:11067-73.
[31] Arges CG, Parrondo J, Johnson G, Nadhan A, Ramani V. Assessing the influence of different cation chemistries on ionic conductivity and alkaline stability of anion exchange membranes. Journal of Materials Chemistry. 2012;22:3733-44.
[32] Li G, Pan J, Han J, Chen C, Lu J, Zhuang L. Ultrathin composite membrane of alkaline polymer electrolyte for fuel cell applications. J. Mater. Chem. A. 2013;1:12497-502.
[33] Jung H, Fujii K, Tamaki T, Ohashi H, Ito T, Yamaguchi T. Low fuel crossover anion exchange pore-filling membrane for solid-state alkaline fuel cells. J. Membr. Sci. 2011;373:107-11.
 
Hydrogen, Fuel Cell & Energy Storage
Volume 2, Issue 1 - Serial Number 5
February 2015
Pages 13-25

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics