Enhancement of fuel cell properties in polyethersulfone and sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) membranes using metal oxide nanoparticles for proton exchange membrane fuel cell

• Published in: International journal of hydrogen energy Vol. 43; no. 47; pp. 21750 - 21759
• Main Authors: Elakkiya, S., Arthanareeswaran, G., Venkatesh, K., Kweon, Jihyang
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 22-11-2018
• Subjects: Metal oxide nanoparticle; Polyethersulfone; Proton conductivity; Proton exchange membrane; Sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone); Polyethersulfone; Proton conductivity; Metal oxide nanoparticle; Proton exchange membrane; Sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone)
• ISSN: 0360-3199; 1879-3487
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2018.04.094

The proton exchange membrane (PEM) was synthesized using polyethersulfone (PES), sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) and nanoparticles. The metal oxide nanoparticles such as Fe3O4, TiO2 and MoO3 were added individually to the polymer blend (PES and SPEEK). The polymer composite membranes exhibit excellent features regarding water uptake, ion exchange capacity and proton conductivity than the pristine PES membrane. Since the presence of sulfonic acid groups provides by added SPEEK and the unique properties of inorganic nanoparticles (Fe3O4, TiO2 and MoO3) helps to interconnect the ionic domain by the absorption of more water molecules thereby enhance the conductivity value. The proton conductivity of PES, SPEEK, PES/SPEEK/Fe3O4, PES/SPEEK/TiO2 and PES/SPEEK/MoO3 membranes were 0.22 × 10−4 S/cm, 5.18 × 10−4 S/cm, 3.57 × 10−4 S/cm, 4.57 × 10−4 S/cm and 2.67 × 10−4 S/cm respectively. Even though the blending of PES with SPEEK has reduced the conductivity value to a lesser extent, hydrophobic PES has vital role in reducing the solvent uptake, swelling ratio and improves hydrolytic stability. Glass transition temperature (Tg) of the membranes were determined from DSC thermogram and it satisfies the operating condition of fuel cell system which guarantees the thermal stability of the membrane for fuel cell application.
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•PES/SPEEK/nanoparticle polymer composite membranes were studied.•Fe3O4, TiO2 and MoO3 were used as nanoparticles.•Interactions between hydrophobic PES and hydrophilic SPEEK improved the membrane properties.•The conductivity of the polymer composite membranes are excellent than the pristine PES membrane.