Study of amine customized exfoliated BN sheets in SPEEK-PES based blend membrane for acid-base cation exchange membrane fuel cells

The cation exchange membrane is fabricated by assemble of synthetic acid-base pairs in the composite matrix. Polydopamine modified boron nitride (AH-BN) sheets are syntheses that contain the base groups (-NH2 and -NH-) and incorporated into the sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK)-poly ether sulfone (PES) matrices for fabricate the composite membranes. The exfoliated AH-BN sheets are evenly dispersed and strongly interacted with the SPEEK via electrostatic interplay, which modify the nanophase structure and enhance the chain packing of the composite membranes. Adding of 3 wt% AH-BN into the SPEEK-PES exhibits the elevated conductivity of 79.8 mS cm(-1) and power density of 131.1 mW cm(-2) at 80 degrees C under low humidification (50%RH) that is higher compared to the SPEEK (21.2 mS cm(-1) and 74.2 mA cm(-2)). The acid-base pairs are created at SPEEK-PES and AH-BN interfaces offers continues pathway channels for the transport of protons with minimum energy barrier via Grotthuss mechanism. Besides, it shows the power density of 172 mW cm(-2) at 80 degrees C under 75%RH, which is higher than Nafion 117 (142 mW cm(-2)). The high residual weight of 93.34% at 170 degrees C and 97.12% is obtained after TGA and Fenton study. Accelerated stability test (AST) shows the excellent voltage retention about 0.05 V after the 80 h of test that confirm the excellent chemical stability from radical effect.

Automated summary

The cation exchange membrane is fabricated by assembling synthetic acid-base pairs in the composite matrix. Adding AH-BN into the SPEEK-PES enhances conductivity and power density, with excellent chemical stability and high residual weight.