Enhanced proton transport properties of Nafion via functionalized halloysite nanotubes |
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Authors: | Ibtissam Ressam Abdelkrim El Kadib Mohammed Lahcini Gerrit A. Luinstra Hubert Perrot Ozlem Sel |
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Affiliation: | 1. Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Laboratoire Interfaces et Systèmes Electrochimiques, LISE, F-75005 Paris, France;2. Cadi Ayyad University, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques, Laboratoire de Chimie Organométallique et Macromoléculaire –Matériaux Composites, Marrakech, Morocco;3. Euromed Research Center, Engineering Division, Euro-Mediterranean University of Fes (UEMF) Fès-Shore, Route de Sidi Hrazem, 30070 Fès, Morocco;4. Institut für Technische und Makromolekulare Chemie, Universität Hamburg, Bundesstr. 45, 20146 Hamburg, Germany |
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Abstract: | The introduction of naturally occurring fibrillary structured halloysite clays (HNTs) into the Nafion matrix resulted in an enhanced proton conductivity and a reduced activation energy for proton transport. To assess the effect of the various states of the HNTs as a membrane additive, the σH+ of the composite membranes (Nafion/HNTs, Nafion/HNTs-NH2, Nafion/HNTs-SO3H) was measured at 30 °C and 80 °C and at different levels of relative humidity (%RH). An overall improvement of the σH+ of the Nafion was observed in the presence of the nanotubular additives (HNTs or HNTs-NH2) which can be attributed to the high specific surface area accommodating hydrophilic functional groups and therefore contributing to the water retention/management in the composite membrane. However, the Nafion/HNT-SO3H composites are distinguished in terms of enhanced performance in σH+ which persist in the whole range of % RH levels and noted that the σH+ values are almost 2 times higher than native Nafion in the low humidity region (30%–50%) and at 80 °C. In agreement with the σH+ enhancement, the activation energy is lower than that of native Nafion indicating that the proton transport is facilitated in the presence of -SO3H modified HNTs, probably due to an improved connectivity and arrangement of ionic conducting domains. |
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Keywords: | Halloysite nanotubes Nafion Proton conduction mechanism Energy conversion Composite membranes |
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