Journal
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HYDROGEN ENERGY
Volume 45, Issue 31, Pages 15507-15520Publisher
PERGAMON-ELSEVIER SCIENCE LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.ijhydene.2020.04.019
Keywords
SPES; Proton exchange membrane; Direct methanol fuel cell; Molybdenum disulfide; Methanol permeability
Categories
Funding
- Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Government of India [EMR/2016/007670]
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Sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) (SPES) based proton exchange membranes (PEMs) are fabricated using sulfonated molybdenum disulfide (S-MoS2) nanosheets via facile solution casting method. SPES (DS = 30%) and S-MoS2 are synthesized and sulfonation is evidently observed in FTIR and XRD analysis. The anchoring of sulfonic acid group on exfoliated molybdenum disulfide (E-MoS2) and elemental composition of S-MoS2 are confirmed by XPS spectrum. Physico-chemical characteristics such as ion-exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake, swelling ratio and oxidation stability are found to be increases after the addition of S-MoS2 into SPES matrix. Increment in S-MoS2 content in SPES matrix decreases the surface contact angle due to the increase in hydrophilicity. Further, the dispersing ability of SMoS2 in SPES matrix is evidently shown by an increase in surface roughness, tensile strength and thermal stability of the SPES/S-MoS2 nanocomposite membranes. On the whole, SPES/S-MoS2-1 membrane showed the highest proton conductivity of 5.98 x 10(-3) Scm(-1), selectivity of 19.6 x 10(4) Scm(-3)s, peak power density of 28.28 mWcm(-2) and lesser methanol permeability of 3.05 x 10(-8) cm(2)s(-1). The strong interfacial interaction between SPES and S-MoS2 in nanocomposite membranes create strong hydrogen bond network to facilitate the proton conduction pathway We both vehicle and Grotthuss type mechanisms. Overall results suggested that the SPES/S-MoS2 nanocomposite membranes are superior and appropriate alternative for commercially high-cost Nafion (R) membranes for use in renewable direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) devices. (C) 2020 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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