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© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

Commercializing direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) demands cost-effective cation exchange membranes. Herein, a polymeric blend is prepared from low-cost and eco-friendly polymers (i.e., iota carrageenan (IC) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)). Zirconium phosphate (ZrPO4) was prepared from the impregnation–calcination method and characterized by energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX map), X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), then incorporated as a bonding and doping agent into the polymer blend with different concentrations. The new fabricated membranes were characterized by SEM, FTIR, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and XRD. The results revealed that the membranes’ physicochemical properties (oxidative stability, tensile strength) are enhanced with increasing doping addition, and they realized higher results than Nafion 117 because of increasing numbers of hydrogen bonds fabricated between the polymers and zirconium phosphate. Additionally, the methanol permeability was decreased in the membranes with increasing zirconium phosphate content. The optimum membrane with IC/SPVA/ZrPO4-7.5 provided higher selectivity than Nafion 117. Therefore, it can be an effective cation exchange membrane for DMFCs applications.

Details

Title
Organic-Inorganic Novel Green Cation Exchange Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells
Author
Gouda, Marwa H 1 ; Tamer, Tamer M 1 ; Konsowa, Abdelaziz H 2 ; Farag, Hassan A 2 ; Mohy Eldin, Mohamed S 1 

 Polymer Materials Research Department, Advanced Technology and New Materials Research Institute (ATNMRI), City of Scientific Research and Technological Applications City (SRTA-City), Alexandria 21934, Egypt; [email protected] 
 Chemical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University, Alexandria 21544, Egypt; [email protected] (A.H.K.); [email protected] (H.A.F.) 
First page
4686
Publication year
2021
Publication date
2021
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
19961073
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
2558798701
Copyright
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.