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Fabrication and Electrolyte Characterizations of Nanofiber Framework-Based Polymer Composite Membranes with Continuous Proton Conductive Pathways

For future fuel cell operations under high temperature and low- or non-humidified conditions, high-performance polymer electrolyte membranes possessing high proton conductivity at low relative humidity as well as suitable gas barrier property and sufficient membrane stability are strongly desired. I...

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Autores principales: Wakiya, Takeru, Tanaka, Manabu, Kawakami, Hiroyoshi
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33513962
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes11020090
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author Wakiya, Takeru
Tanaka, Manabu
Kawakami, Hiroyoshi
author_facet Wakiya, Takeru
Tanaka, Manabu
Kawakami, Hiroyoshi
author_sort Wakiya, Takeru
collection PubMed
description For future fuel cell operations under high temperature and low- or non-humidified conditions, high-performance polymer electrolyte membranes possessing high proton conductivity at low relative humidity as well as suitable gas barrier property and sufficient membrane stability are strongly desired. In this study, novel nanofiber framework (NfF)-based composite membranes composed of phytic acid (Phy)-doped polybenzimidazole nanofibers (PBINf) and Nafion matrix electrolyte were fabricated through the compression process of the nanofibers. The NfF composite membrane prepared from the pressed Phy-PBINf showed higher proton conductivity and lower activation energy than the conventional NfF composite and recast-Nafion membranes, especially at low relative humidity. It is considered that the compression process increased the nanofiber contents in the composite membrane, resulting in the construction of the continuously formed effective proton conductive pathway consisting of the densely accumulated phosphoric acid and sulfonic acid groups at the interface of the nanofibers and the Nafion matrix. Since the NfF also improved the mechanical strength and gas barrier property through the compression process, the NfF composite polymer electrolyte membranes have the potential to be applied to future fuel cells operated under low- or non-humidified conditions.
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spelling pubmed-79119942021-02-28 Fabrication and Electrolyte Characterizations of Nanofiber Framework-Based Polymer Composite Membranes with Continuous Proton Conductive Pathways Wakiya, Takeru Tanaka, Manabu Kawakami, Hiroyoshi Membranes (Basel) Article For future fuel cell operations under high temperature and low- or non-humidified conditions, high-performance polymer electrolyte membranes possessing high proton conductivity at low relative humidity as well as suitable gas barrier property and sufficient membrane stability are strongly desired. In this study, novel nanofiber framework (NfF)-based composite membranes composed of phytic acid (Phy)-doped polybenzimidazole nanofibers (PBINf) and Nafion matrix electrolyte were fabricated through the compression process of the nanofibers. The NfF composite membrane prepared from the pressed Phy-PBINf showed higher proton conductivity and lower activation energy than the conventional NfF composite and recast-Nafion membranes, especially at low relative humidity. It is considered that the compression process increased the nanofiber contents in the composite membrane, resulting in the construction of the continuously formed effective proton conductive pathway consisting of the densely accumulated phosphoric acid and sulfonic acid groups at the interface of the nanofibers and the Nafion matrix. Since the NfF also improved the mechanical strength and gas barrier property through the compression process, the NfF composite polymer electrolyte membranes have the potential to be applied to future fuel cells operated under low- or non-humidified conditions. MDPI 2021-01-27 /pmc/articles/PMC7911994/ /pubmed/33513962 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes11020090 Text en © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Wakiya, Takeru
Tanaka, Manabu
Kawakami, Hiroyoshi
Fabrication and Electrolyte Characterizations of Nanofiber Framework-Based Polymer Composite Membranes with Continuous Proton Conductive Pathways
title Fabrication and Electrolyte Characterizations of Nanofiber Framework-Based Polymer Composite Membranes with Continuous Proton Conductive Pathways
title_full Fabrication and Electrolyte Characterizations of Nanofiber Framework-Based Polymer Composite Membranes with Continuous Proton Conductive Pathways
title_fullStr Fabrication and Electrolyte Characterizations of Nanofiber Framework-Based Polymer Composite Membranes with Continuous Proton Conductive Pathways
title_full_unstemmed Fabrication and Electrolyte Characterizations of Nanofiber Framework-Based Polymer Composite Membranes with Continuous Proton Conductive Pathways
title_short Fabrication and Electrolyte Characterizations of Nanofiber Framework-Based Polymer Composite Membranes with Continuous Proton Conductive Pathways
title_sort fabrication and electrolyte characterizations of nanofiber framework-based polymer composite membranes with continuous proton conductive pathways
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7911994/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33513962
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/membranes11020090
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AT kawakamihiroyoshi fabricationandelectrolytecharacterizationsofnanofiberframeworkbasedpolymercompositemembraneswithcontinuousprotonconductivepathways