Meenaksh, S. and Sahu, A.K. and Bhat, S.D. and Sridhar, P. and Pitchumani, S. and Shukla, A.K. (2013) Mesostructured-aluminosilicate-Nafion hybrid membranes for direct methanol fuel cells. Electrochimica Acta, 89. pp. 35-44. ISSN 0013-4686

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Abstract

Organic–inorganic hybrid membranes are prepared from Nafion and acid functionalized aluminosilicate with varying structures and surface areas. Acid-functionalized mesostructured aluminosilicate with cellular foam framework (Al-MSU-F type) of surface area 463 m2 g−1, acid-functionalized aluminosilicate molecular sieves (Al-HMS type) of surface area 651 m2 g−1 and acid-functionalized mesostructured aluminosilicate with hexagonal network (Al-MCM-41 type) of surface area 799 m2 g−1 have been employed as potential filler materials to form hybrid membranes with Nafion. The structural behavior, water uptake, ion-exchange capacity, proton conductivity and methanol permeability of the hybrid membranes are extensively investigated. Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) with Al-HMS-Nafion and Al-MCM-41- Nafion hybrid membranes deliver respective peak power-densities of 170 mW cm−2 and 246 mW cm−2, while a peak power-density of only 48 mW cm−2 is obtained for the DMFC employing pristine recast- Nafion membrane under identical operating conditions. The unique properties associated with hybrid membranes could be exclusively attributed to the presence of pendant sulfonic-acid groups in the filler materials, which provide proton-conducting pathways between the filler and matrix in the hybrid membranes, and facilitate proton transport with adequate balance between proton conductivity and methanol permeability.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Nafion; Aluminosilicate; Hybrid membranes; DMFC; Methanol permeability
Subjects:	Fuel Cells Electrochemical Power Sources
Divisions:	UNSPECIFIED
Depositing User:	Dr. N Meyyappan
Date Deposited:	30 May 2013 07:58
Last Modified:	30 May 2013 07:58
URI:	http://cecri.csircentral.net/id/eprint/3029

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