A Study of influence on sulfonated TiO2-Poly (Vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) nano composite membranes for PEM Fuel cell application

• Published in: Applied surface science Vol. 418; pp. 64 - 71
• Main Authors: kumar, K. Selva, Rajendran, S., Prabhu, M. Ramesh
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V 01-10-2017
• Subjects: IEC; PEM and AFM; Polymer composite; Sulfonated titania; Polymer composite; Sulfonated titania; IEC; PEM and AFM
• ISSN: 0169-4332; 1873-5584
• DOI: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2016.11.139

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•Newer proton conducting polymer composite membranes are prepared based on Poly (Vinylidene fluoride-co-hexa fluoro propylene)-sulfonated Titania film by solvent casting technique.•The membranes exhibit good proton conductivity and thermal stability.•Incorporation of sulfonated Titania results in hydrophilicity.•A maximum proton conductivity value of 3.6×10−3S/cm was obtained at 80°C.•MEA consisting of composite membrane and Pt:C catalyst was fabricated for PEM fuel cell applications.
The present work describes the sulfonated Titania directly blended with Poly (Vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) as a host polymer by solvent casting technique for PEM fuel cell application. Characterization studies such as FT-IR, SEM, EDX, AFM, Proton conductivity, contact angle measurement, IEC, TG, water uptake, tensile strength were performed by for synthesized proton conducting polymer electrolytes. The maximum proton conductivity value was found to be 3.6×10−3S/cm for 25wt% sulfonated Titania based system at 80°C. The temperature dependent proton conductivity of the polymer electrolyte follows an Arrhenius relationship. Surface morphology of the composite membranes was investigated by tapping mode. Thermal stability of the system was studied by TG analysis. The fabricated composite membranes with high proton conductivity, good water uptake and IEC parameters exhibited a maximum fuel cell power density of 85 Mw/cm2for PEM fuel cell application.