Abstract
A composite membrane of silica (SiO2)/sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) nanofiber mat impregnated with Nafion was fabricated and evaluated for its potential use as a proton conductor for high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells. The supporting SiO2/SPEEK composite nanofibrous skeleton was prepared via electrospinning of a mixture of SPEEK solution and silica sol prepared from tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The control of hydrolysis and condensation of TEOS enabled to form entangled SiO2 networks miscible to SPEEK solution. The prepared SiO2/SPEEK nanofiber mat was impregnated with Nafion® to completely fill the inter-fiber voids to prepare a dense membrane. The morphology of the nanofiber mat and the composite membrane were observed by scanning electron microscopy and the presence of SiO2 and SPEEK in the prepared nanofibers was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy. Proton conductivity and swelling of the membrane were measured. The H2/O2 single cell test using the composite membrane as a PEM was performed. At a high temperature and low humidity condition (120 °C and 40 % RH), the maximum power density was 170 mW/cm2 for the Nafion-impregnated SiO2/SPEEK (40/60 w/w) composite nanofiber membrane that was 2.4 times higher than recast Nafion (71 mW/cm2) while SPEEK film failed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Smitha B, Sridhar S, Khan AA (2005) J Membr Sci 259:10
Savadogo O (2004) J Power Sources 127:135
Tang HL, Pan M (2008) J Phys Chem C 112:11556
Garland NL, Kopasz JP (2007) J Power Sources 172:94
Sahu AK, Selvarani G, Pitchumani S, Sridhar P, Shukla AK (2007) J Electrochem Soc 154:B123
Watanabe M, Uchida H, Seki Y, Emori M, Stonehart P (1996) J Electrochem Soc 143:3847
Sacca A, Carbone A, Passalacqua E et al (2005) J Power Sources 152:16
Watanabe M, Uchida H, Emori M (1998) J Phys Chem B 102:3129
Aparicio M, Damay F, Klein LC (2003) J Sol–Gel Sci Technol 26:1055
Laberty-Robert C, Valle K, Pereira F, Sanchez C (2011) Chem Soc Rev 40:961
Choi SW, Kim JR, Jo SM, Lee WS, Kim YR (2005) J Electrochem Soc 152:A989
Yu JH, Fridrikh SV, Rutledge GC (2004) Adv Mater 16:1562
Huang ZM, Zhang YZ, Kotaki M, Ramakrishna S (2003) Compos Sci Technol 63:2223
Li D, Xia YN (2004) Adv Mater 16:1151
Choi SW, Kim JR, Ahn YR, Jo SM, Cairns EJ (2007) Chem Mater 19:104
Li D, Xia YN (2003) Nano Lett 3:555
Dai HQ, Gong J, Kim H, Lee D (2002) Nanotechnology 13:674
Larsen G, Velarde-Ortiz R, Minchow K, Barrero A, Loscertales IG (2003) J Am Chem Soc 125:1154
Choi J, Lee KM, Wycisk R, Pintauro PN, Mather PT (2008) Macromolecules 41:4569
Choi J, Wycisk R, Zhang W, Pintauro PN, Lee KM, Mather PT (2010) ChemSusChem 3:1245
Choi J, Lee KM, Wycisk R, Pintauro PN, Mather PT (2010) J Mater Chem 20:6282
Choi SW, Fu YZ, Ahn YR, Jo SM, Manthiram A (2008) J Power Sources 180:167
Molla S, Compan V (2011) J Memb Sci 372:191–200
Molla S, Compan V, Gimenez E, Blazquez A, Urdanpilleta I (2011) Int J Hydrogen Energy 36:9886
Kim K-H, Lee K-Y, Lee S-Y et al (2010) Int J Hydrogen Energy 35:13104
Uchida N, Ishiyama N, Kato Z, Uematsu K (1994) J Mater Sci 29:5188. doi:10.1007/BF01151115
Jaafar J, Ismail AF, Mustafa A (2007) Mater Sci Eng A 460:475
Devaux J, Delimoy D, Daoust D et al (1985) Polymer 26:1994
Ismail AF, Othman NH, Mustafa A (2009) J Membr Sci 329:18
Xu T, Hou W, Shen X et al (2011) J Power Sources 196:4934
Wei Y, Yang DC, Tang LG, Hutchins MGK (1993) J Mater Res 8:1143
Wei Y, Jin DL, Yang CC, Wei G (1996) J Sol–Gel Sci Technol 7:191
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea Grant funded by the Korean Government (MEST) (NRF-2009-C1AAA001-2009-0092926) and CSIRO, Advanced Materials Theme, Australia.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding authors
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lee, C., Jo, S.M., Choi, J. et al. SiO2/sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) composite nanofiber mat supported proton exchange membranes for fuel cells. J Mater Sci 48, 3665–3671 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7162-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-013-7162-7