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Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
Article

Constructing Proton‐conducting Channels within Sulfonated(Poly Arylene Ether Ketone) Using Sulfonated Graphene Oxide: A Nano‐Hybrid Membrane for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Hye Ri Jang

Graduate School, Department of Energy Storage/Conversion Engineering, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 54896 Republic of Korea

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Mohanraj Vinothkannan

Graduate School, Department of Energy Storage/Conversion Engineering, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 54896 Republic of Korea

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Ae Rhan Kim

Corresponding Author

E-mail address: canutech@hanmail.net

Department of Bioenvironmental Chemistry and R&D Center for CANUTECH, Business Incubation Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 54896 Republic of Korea

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Dong Jin Yoo

Corresponding Author

E-mail address: djyoo@jbnu.ac.kr

Graduate School, Department of Energy Storage/Conversion Engineering, Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Research Center, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 54896 Republic of Korea

Department of Life Science, Chonbuk National University, Jeonju, 54896 Republic of Korea

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First published: 25 April 2018
Cited by: 2
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Abstract

Nano‐hybrid membranes made up using sulfonated (poly‐arylene ether ketone) (SPAEK) and sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) with various weight ratio i.e., 0.5, 1 and/or 1.5 wt % were fabricated with a traditional solvent casting approach and their appropriateness for the potential application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) was probed. Structural characteristics of membranes were substantiated by 1H NMR, FT‐IR, and XRD. The composite membranes revealed the outstanding thermal property with a primary weight drop at temperature of 200 °C, as proved by TGA analysis. TM‐AFM images of composite membrane revealed the phase separated morphology of hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions, which afford the wide pathways for swift and easy conduction of protons. Additionally, integration of SGO dramatically raises the water absorption and consequently proton conductivity, whereas it decreases activation energy needed to transfer the protons via membrane. Proton conductivity value of 124 mS/cm was acquired using 1.5 wt % SGO/SPAEK composite membrane with a higher volume of water absorption i.e., 19%.

Number of times cited according to CrossRef: 2

  • , Recent developments in graphene based novel structures for efficient and durable fuel cells, Journal of Energy Chemistry, 10.1016/j.jechem.2019.02.009, (2019).
  • , Improving the proton conductivity of graphene oxide membranes by intercalating cations, SN Applied Sciences, 10.1007/s42452-019-0641-y, 1, 6, (2019).