Synthesis of Low Methanol Permeation Polymer Electrolyte Membrane from Polystyrene-Butadiene Rubber |
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| Authors: | C A Idibie A S Abdulkareem H C vZ Pienaar S E Iyuke L Van Dyk |
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| Affiliation: | 1. School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg, South Africa krisid2007@yahoo.com;3. School of Chemical and Metallurgical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand , Johannesburg, South Africa;4. Institute of Applied Electronics, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, Vaal University of Technology , Vanderbijlpark, South Africa |
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| Abstract: | In order to find a low cost polymer electrolyte membrane with low methanol cross-over, the development of novel polymer electrolytes have been actively carried out in recent time as alternatives to Nafion®, which is the state-of-the art membrane. The problems associated with these alternative membranes are higher permeability to the fuel, lower proton attraction and thermal stability. This work therefore was focused on synthesizing low methanol permeable membrane with good proton conductvity and thermal stability from locally available polymer (Polystyrene-butadiene rubber). Results obtained revealed that the synthesized membrane exhibited methanol permeation in the ranges of 2.13 × 10?7 to 7.58 × 10?7 mol/cm2s which was lower than that of Nafion® (3.15 × 10?6 cm2/s). The proton conductivity of the synthesized membrane is in the order of 10?2 S/cm. The results also show that water and solvent uptake of the synthesized membrane are moderate as compared to that of Nafion®. These results are influenced by the degree of sulphonation and membrane thickness ranging from 0.112 mm?0.420 mm. |
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| Keywords: | Degree of sulphonation Membrane thickness Methanol crossover Polystyrene-butadiene rubber Solvent uptake |
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