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Membranes
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Advanced Polymeric Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications
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Advanced Polymeric Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 January 2024) | Viewed by 4475

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Asmaa Selim

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Renewable Energy Research Group, Institute of Materials and Environmental Chemistry, Research Centre for Natural Science, Budapest, Hungary
Interests: polymeric membranes; nanocomposites; proton exchange membranes; thin-film composite membranes; mixed matrix membrane; membrane separation process
Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Beltsios

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Materials Sector, School of Chemical Engineering, NTUA, Zographou Campus, 15780 Athens, Greece
Interests: polymeric phase inversion membranes; ceramic porous membranes; carbon membranes
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Polymeric membranes are the core of several membrane processes, due to their ease of preparation, low to moderate cost, and possibility of different modifications aimed at performance optimization. In the energy sector, fuel cells have attracted great attention. Among fuel cell applications, proton exchange membrane or polymeric electrolyte membrane fuel cells are the most promising for renewable and sustainable energy application. Over the last decade, several materials have been developed, such as perfluorosulfonic acid, perfluorocarboxylic acid, and hydrocarbon polymers with sulfonic acid groups, mostly based on polyetherketones and polyethersulfones. However, numerous issues remain, namely the need for materials of lower cost, with high performance outside the 0 °C to 80 °C temperature range, long-term stability, and good water uptake over a range of temperatures. Potential solutions, or partial solutions, include the development of appropriate blended, thin-film composite membranes and hybrid membranes. Research that emphasizes the development of low-cost PEMFCs that exhibit long-term performance and might be used instead of the current commercial membranes is of particular interest, as it can contribute to the development of advanced electrochemical energy devices. 

In this Special Issue, we are seeking high-quality original research or review papers on "Advanced Polymeric Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications".

This Special Issue will emphasize the following topics of interest, including but not limited to: 

  • New materials for membrane development for fuel cells;
  • Advances in the fabrication of fuel cell membranes;
  • Direct methanol fuel cells;
  • Hydrogen fuel cells;
  • Direct borohydride fuel cells.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Asmaa Selim
Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Beltsios
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Membranes is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • polymeric membrane preparation
  • membrane characterization
  • proton exchange membranes
  • hydrogen fuel cell
  • direct methanol fuel cell

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 5171 KiB  
Article
Promising Fluorine-Free Ion Exchange Membranes Based on a Poly(ether-block-amide) Copolymer and Sulfonated Montmorillonite: Influence of Different Copolymer Segment Ratios
by Manhal H. Ibrahim Al-Mashhadani, Khirdakhanim Salmanzade, András Tompos and Asmaa Selim
Membranes 2024, 14(1), 17; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes14010017 - 06 Jan 2024
Viewed by 1743
Abstract
Novel composite membranes employing a poly(ether-block-amide) (PEBAX) copolymer and sulfonated montmorillonite (S-MMT) as a filler were developed. The ratio of polyether to polyamide blocks was investigated using PEBAX 2533 and PEBAX 4533 based on the membrane properties and performance. Additionally, the effect of [...] Read more.
Novel composite membranes employing a poly(ether-block-amide) (PEBAX) copolymer and sulfonated montmorillonite (S-MMT) as a filler were developed. The ratio of polyether to polyamide blocks was investigated using PEBAX 2533 and PEBAX 4533 based on the membrane properties and performance. Additionally, the effect of the changing filler ratio was monitored. The interaction between the S-MMT as nanofiller and the polymer matrix of PEBAX2533 and PEBAX4533 as well as the crystalline nature and thermal and mechanical stability of the composite membranes were evaluated using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and tensile test. The composite membrane with 7 wt.% S-MMT showed the highest water uptake of 21% and 16% and an acceptable swelling degree of 16% and 9% for PEBAX 2533 and PEBAX 4533 composite membranes, respectively. In terms of water uptake and ion exchange capacity at room temperature, the new un-protonated membranes are superior to un-protonated Nafion. Meanwhile, with the same S-MMT content, the ion conductivity of PEBAX 2533 and PEBAX 4533 composite membranes is 2 and 1.6 mS/cm, and their ion exchange capacity is 0.9 and 1.10 meq/g. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymeric Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications)
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14 pages, 7375 KiB  
Article
Co(II)-Chelated Polyimines as Oxygen Reduction Reaction Catalysts in Anion Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells
by Yu-Chang Huang, Yen-Zen Wang, Tar-Hwa Hsieh and Ko-Shan Ho
Membranes 2023, 13(9), 769; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13090769 - 30 Aug 2023
Viewed by 705
Abstract
In this paper, a cobalt (Co)-chelated polynaphthalene imine (Co-PNIM) was calcined to become an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalyst (Co-N-C) as the cathode catalyst (CC) of an anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC). The X-ray diffraction pattern of CoNC-1000A900 illustrated that the carbon [...] Read more.
In this paper, a cobalt (Co)-chelated polynaphthalene imine (Co-PNIM) was calcined to become an oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) electrocatalyst (Co-N-C) as the cathode catalyst (CC) of an anion exchange membrane fuel cell (AEMFC). The X-ray diffraction pattern of CoNC-1000A900 illustrated that the carbon matrix develops clear C(002) and Co(111) planes after calcination, which was confirmed using high-resolution TEM pictures. Co-N-Cs also demonstrated a significant ORR peak at 0.8 V in a C–V (current vs. voltage) curve and produced an extremely limited reduction current density (5.46 mA cm−2) comparable to commercial Pt/C catalysts (5.26 mA cm−2). The measured halfway potential of Co-N-C (0.82 V) was even higher than that of Pt/C (0.81 V). The maximum power density (Pmax) of the AEM single cell upon applying Co-N-C as the CC was 243 mW cm−2, only slightly lower than that of Pt/C (280 mW cm−2). The Tafel slope of CoNC-1000A900 (33.3 mV dec−1) was lower than that of Pt/C (43.3 mV dec−1). The limited reduction current density only decayed by 7.9% for CoNC-1000A900, compared to 22.7% for Pt/C, after 10,000 redox cycles. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymeric Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications)
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Review

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21 pages, 2022 KiB  
Review
Different Approaches for the Preparation of Composite Ionic Liquid-Based Membranes for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Applications—Recent Advancements
by Mohammad Ebrahimi, Kateryna Fatyeyeva and Wojciech Kujawski
Membranes 2023, 13(6), 593; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes13060593 - 11 Jun 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1607
Abstract
The use of ionic liquid-based membranes as polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cell applications increases significantly due to the major features of ionic liquids (i.e., high thermal stability and ion conductivity, non-volatility, and non-flammability). In general, there are three major methods to introduce [...] Read more.
The use of ionic liquid-based membranes as polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cell applications increases significantly due to the major features of ionic liquids (i.e., high thermal stability and ion conductivity, non-volatility, and non-flammability). In general, there are three major methods to introduce ionic liquids into the polymer membrane, such as incorporating ionic liquid into a polymer solution, impregnating the polymer with ionic liquid, and cross-linking. The incorporation of ionic liquids into a polymer solution is the most common method, owing to easy operation of process and quick membrane formation. However, the prepared composite membranes suffer from a reduction in mechanical stability and ionic liquid leakage. While mechanical stability may be enhanced by the membrane’s impregnation with ionic liquid, ionic liquid leaching is still the main drawback of this method. The presence of covalent bonds between ionic liquids and polymer chains during the cross-linking reaction can decrease the ionic liquid release. Cross-linked membranes reveal more stable proton conductivity, although a decrease in ionic mobility can be noticed. In the present work, the main approaches for ionic liquid introduction into the polymer film are presented in detail, and the recently obtained results (2019–2023) are discussed in correlation with the composite membrane structure. In addition, some promising new methods (i.e., layer-by-layer self-assembly, vacuum-assisted flocculation, spin coating, and freeze drying) are described. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Polymeric Membranes for Fuel Cell Applications)
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