Polymeric nanocomposite membranes, based on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) and organically modified montmorillonite, as high-performance materials for fuel cell applications

Poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) was sulfonated at various degrees with sulfuric acid . The optimum degree of sulfonation was determined. In the next step various amount of different types of organically modified montmorillonite(OMMTs), were introduced to the optimum sPEEK via the solution intercalation technique. The selectivity parameter – ratio of proton conductivity to methanol permeability– was identified and measured for each sample at 250 c. the samples were determined by X-Ray diffraction to show the dispersion of differenet OMMTs in membranes. Finally the membrane based on sPEEK / MMT 1%(cloisite30B), as the optimum nano clay composition, exhibits a high selectivity and power density at the concentrated methanol feed. Moreover, the optimum nanocomposite membrane compared to Nafion®117 membranes. It is found that the optimum nanocomposite membrane not only provides higher performance in comparision to the neat sPEEK and Nafion®117 membranes, but also exhibits a high open circuit voltage (OCV) at the elevated methanol concentration.

Keywords:

Methanol fuel cell , Polyelectrolyte membrane , Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) , Polymer/clay nanocomposites , Montmorillonite