A facile route for the preparation of proton exchange membranes using sulfonated side chain graphite oxides and crosslinked sodium alginate for fuel cell

Publication date: 25 April 2018
Source:Polymer, Volume 142
Author(s): Balappa Munavalli, Anand Torvi, Mahadevappa Kariduraganavar
Functionalized graphite oxide was prepared and subjected to sulfonation via a simple procedure in the presence of 1,4-butane sultone (BS) and sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS). The resulting sulfonated graphite oxides were incorporated into polystyrene sulfonicacid-co-maleic acid (PSSA-MA) crosslinked sodium alginate in different mass% to enhance the water uptake, mechanical stability and proton conductivity of the membranes. The physico-chemical changes in the resulting proton exchange membranes were investigated using Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), wide-angle X-ray diffractometer (WAXD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA). The proton conductivity of the synthesized composite membranes was measured using a high precession impedance analyzer. Among the developed proton exchange membranes (PEMs), membranes containing 16 mass% of graphite oxide sulfonated with BS and SDBS respectively exhibited the highest proton conductivity of 0.133 and 0.145 S/cm at 80 °C. The ion exchange capacity (IEC) of these membranes was found to be 1.40 and 1.52 meq/g, respectively. The performance of the membranes was evaluated using fuel cell workstation at 80 °C. Among the membranes developed, 16 mass% of BS-GO and SDBS-GO incorporated membranes demonstrated the power density of 0.39 and 0.42 W/cm², respectively. These properties are superior to the commercially available Nafion^® 117 membrane. Thus, these proton exchange membranes developed here could be employed for fuel cell applications.

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