Sol–gel derived sulfonated-silica/Nafion composite membrane for direct methanol fuel cell |
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Authors: | Chuan-Yu Yen Chia-Hsun Lee Yu-Feng Lin Hsiu-Li Lin Yi-Hsiu Hsiao Shu-Hang Liao Chia-Yi Chuang Chen-Chi M Ma |
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Affiliation: | 1. Department of Chemical Engineering, National Tsing-Hua University, Hsin-Chu 30043, Taiwan, ROC;2. Department of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, Yuan-Ze University, Chung-Li, Taoyuan 32003, Taiwan, ROC |
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Abstract: | Sulfonated-silica/Nafion® composite membranes were prepared in a sol–gel reaction of (3-Mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (SH-silane) followed by solution casting, and then oxidated using 10 wt% H2O2 solution. The chemical and physical properties of the composite membranes were characterized by using FT-IR, XPS, 29Si NMR and SEM analyses. Experimental results indicated that the optimum oxidation condition was 60 °C for 1 h. The performance of the silica–SO3H/Nafion® composite membranes was evaluated in terms of methanol permeability, proton conductivity and cell performance. The silica–SO3H/Nafion® composite membranes have a higher selectivity (C/P ratio = 26,653) than that of pristine Nafion® (22,795), perhaps because of their higher proton conductivity and lower methanol permeability. The composite membrane with 0.6 wt% silica–SO3H/Nafion® performed better than pristine Nafion®. The current densities were measured as 62.5 and 70 mA cm−2 at a potential of 0.2 V with a composite membrane that contained 0 and 0.6 wt% silica–SO3H, respectively. The cell performance of the DMFC was improved by introducing silica–SO3H. The composite membrane with 0.6 wt% of silica–SO3H yielded the maximum power density of 15.18 mW cm−2. The composite membranes are suitable for DMFC applications with high selectivity. |
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Keywords: | Sol&ndash gel (3-Mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane Nafion® DMFC X-ray SiO2&ndash SO3H |
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