Khan Muhammad Imran, Shanableh Abdallah, Shahida Shabnam, Lashari Mushtaq Hussain, Manzoor Suryyia, Fernandez Javier
Research Institute of Sciences and Engineering (RISE), University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates.
Department of Chemistry, University of Poonch, Rawalakot 12350, Pakistan.
Membranes (Basel). 2022 Feb 25;12(3):263. doi: 10.3390/membranes12030263.
In fuel cell applications, the proton exchange membrane (PEM) is the major component where the balance among dimensional stability, proton conductivity, and durability is a long-term trail. In this research, a series of blended SPEEK/SPPO membranes were designed by varying the amounts of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) into sulfonated poly(phenylene) oxide (SPPO) for fuel cell application. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to confirm the successful synthesis of the blended membranes. Morphological features of the fabricated membranes were characterized by using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results showed that these membranes exhibited homogeneous structures. The fabricated blended membranes SPEEK/SPPO showed ion exchange capacity (IEC) of 1.23 to 2.0 mmol/g, water uptake (W) of 22.92 to 64.57% and membrane swelling (MS) of 7.53 to 25.49%. The proton conductivity of these blended membranes was measured at different temperature. The proton conductivity and chemical stability of the prepared membranes were compared with commercial membrane Nafion 117 (Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, Missouri, United States) under same experimental conditions. The proton conductivity of the fabricated membranes increased by enhancing the amount of SPPO into the membrane matrix. Moreover, the proton conductivity of the fabricated membranes was investigated as a function of temperature. Results demonstrated that these membranes are good for applications in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC).
在燃料电池应用中，质子交换膜（PEM）是主要部件，在尺寸稳定性、质子传导率和耐久性之间实现平衡是一项长期挑战。在本研究中，通过改变磺化聚（醚醚酮）（SPEEK）在磺化聚（苯醚）（SPPO）中的含量，设计了一系列用于燃料电池应用的共混SPEEK/SPPO膜。采用傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）确认共混膜的成功合成。使用扫描电子显微镜（SEM）对制备膜的形态特征进行表征。结果表明这些膜呈现出均匀的结构。制备的共混膜SPEEK/SPPO的离子交换容量（IEC）为1.23至2.0 mmol/g，吸水率（W）为22.92至64.57%，膜溶胀率（MS）为7.53至25.49%。在不同温度下测量这些共混膜的质子传导率。在相同实验条件下，将制备膜的质子传导率和化学稳定性与商业膜Nafion 117（美国密苏里州圣路易斯市西格玛奥德里奇公司）进行比较。通过增加膜基质中SPPO的含量，制备膜的质子传导率提高。此外，研究了制备膜的质子传导率随温度的变化。结果表明这些膜适用于质子交换膜燃料电池（PEMFC）。
