Magnetically aligned nanodomains: application in high-performance ion conductive membranes.

Polyelectrolyte-coated magnetic nanoparticles were prepared by decorating the surface of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) with crosslinked chitosan oligopolysaccharide (CS). These positively charged particles (CS-SPIONs) were then added to a negatively charged polymer (Nafion), and cast into membranes under an applied magnetic field. TEM and SAXS measurements confirmed this process created aligned, cylindrical nanodomains in the membranes. This was also indirectly confirmed by proton conductivity values. The strong electrostatic interaction between chitosan and Nafion prevented oxygen permeability and water evaporation at elevated temperatures through the proton conductive channels. The resultant proton exchange membranes showed lower conduction dependency to relative humidity, which is highly desirable for hydrogen fuel cells. The fuel cell performance tests were performed on the designed polyelectrolyte membrane by hydrogen-oxygen single cells at elevated temperature (120 °C) and low relative humidity.

Superacid-doped polybenzimidazole-decorated carbon nanotubes: a novel high-performance proton exchange nanocomposite membrane.

Here we demonstrate design and electrochemical characterization of novel proton exchange membranes based on Nafion and superacid-doped polymer coated carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Polybenzimidazole-decorated CNT (PBI-CNT), a high-performance proton exchange nanostructure, was doped using phosphotungstic acid (PWA) as a super proton conductor. The engineered nanohybrid structure was shown to retain water molecules and provide high proton conduction at low humidity and elevated temperatures. The developed complex nanomaterial was then incorporated into the Nafion matrix to fabricate nanocomposite membranes. The acid-base interactions between imidazole groups of PBI and sulfonate groups of Nafion facilitate proton conductivity, especially at elevated temperatures. The improved characteristics of the membranes at the nanoscale result in enhanced fuel cell power generation capacity (386 mW cm(-2)) at elevated temperatures and low humidity (40% R.H.), which was found to be considerably higher than the commercial Nafion®117 membrane (73 mW cm(-2)).

Morphological tuning of polymeric nanoparticles via microfluidic platform for fuel cell applications.

At nanoscale length scales, the properties of particles change rapidly with the slightest change in dimension. The use of a microfluidic platform enables precise control of sub-100 nm organic nanoparticles (NPs) based on polybenzimidazole. Using hydrodynamic flow focusing, we can control the size and shape of the NPs, which in turn controls a number of particle material properties. The anhydrous proton-conducting nature of the prepared NPs allowed us to make a high-performance ion exchange membrane for fuel cell applications, and microfluidic tuning of the NPs allowed us subsequently to tune the fuel cell performance.

Microfluidic synthesis of chitosan-based nanoparticles for fuel cell applications.

A microfluidic platform is developed for the synthesis of monodisperse, 100 nm, chitosan based nanoparticles using nanogelation with ATP. The resulting nanoparticles tuned and enhanced transport and electrochemical properties of Nafion based nanocomposite membranes, which is highly favorable for fuel cell applications.

Novel high-performance nanohybrid polyelectrolyte membranes based on bio-functionalized montmorillonite for fuel cell applications.

This study is concerned with electrochemical investigation of novel high-performance proton exchange membranes based on bio-functionalized montmorillonite and Nafion. It was found that the incorporation of 2 wt% BMMT into Nafion polyelectrolyte matrix results in significantly improved methanol-air fuel cell efficiency of 30% compared to 14% for Nafion(R)117, and about 23-times higher membrane selectivity.