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The Effect of Sulfated Zirconia and Zirconium Phosphate Nanocomposite Membranes on Fuel-Cell Efficiency

To investigate the effect of acidic nanoparticles on proton conductivity, permeability, and fuel-cell performance, a commercial Nafion(®) 117 membrane was impregnated with zirconium phosphates (ZrP) and sulfated zirconium (S-ZrO(2)) nanoparticles. As they are more stable than other solid superacids,...

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Autores principales: Sigwadi, Rudzani, Mokrani, Touhami, Msomi, Phumlani, Nemavhola, Fulufhelo
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8779290/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35054671
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym14020263
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author Sigwadi, Rudzani
Mokrani, Touhami
Msomi, Phumlani
Nemavhola, Fulufhelo
author_facet Sigwadi, Rudzani
Mokrani, Touhami
Msomi, Phumlani
Nemavhola, Fulufhelo
author_sort Sigwadi, Rudzani
collection PubMed
description To investigate the effect of acidic nanoparticles on proton conductivity, permeability, and fuel-cell performance, a commercial Nafion(®) 117 membrane was impregnated with zirconium phosphates (ZrP) and sulfated zirconium (S-ZrO(2)) nanoparticles. As they are more stable than other solid superacids, sulfated metal oxides have been the subject of intensive research. Meanwhile, hydrophilic, proton-conducting inorganic acids such as zirconium phosphate (ZrP) have been used to modify the Nafion(®) membrane due to their hydrophilic nature, proton-conducting material, very low toxicity, low cost, and stability in a hydrogen/oxygen atmosphere. A tensile test, water uptake, methanol crossover, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to assess the capacity of nanocomposite membranes to function in a fuel cell. The modified Nafion(®) membrane had a higher water uptake and a lower water content angle than the commercial Nafion(®) 117 membrane, indicating that it has a greater impact on conductivity. Under strain rates of 40, 30, and 20 mm/min, the nanocomposite membranes demonstrated more stable thermal deterioration and higher mechanical strength, which offers tremendous promise for fuel-cell applications. When compared to 0.113 S/cm and 0.013 S/cm, respectively, of commercial Nafion(®) 117 and Nafion(®) ZrP membranes, the modified Nafion(®) membrane with ammonia sulphate acid had the highest proton conductivity of 7.891 S/cm. When tested using a direct single-cell methanol fuel cell, it also had the highest power density of 183 mW cm(−2) which is better than commercial Nafion(®) 117 and Nafion(®) ZrP membranes.
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spelling pubmed-87792902022-01-22 The Effect of Sulfated Zirconia and Zirconium Phosphate Nanocomposite Membranes on Fuel-Cell Efficiency Sigwadi, Rudzani Mokrani, Touhami Msomi, Phumlani Nemavhola, Fulufhelo Polymers (Basel) Article To investigate the effect of acidic nanoparticles on proton conductivity, permeability, and fuel-cell performance, a commercial Nafion(®) 117 membrane was impregnated with zirconium phosphates (ZrP) and sulfated zirconium (S-ZrO(2)) nanoparticles. As they are more stable than other solid superacids, sulfated metal oxides have been the subject of intensive research. Meanwhile, hydrophilic, proton-conducting inorganic acids such as zirconium phosphate (ZrP) have been used to modify the Nafion(®) membrane due to their hydrophilic nature, proton-conducting material, very low toxicity, low cost, and stability in a hydrogen/oxygen atmosphere. A tensile test, water uptake, methanol crossover, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to assess the capacity of nanocomposite membranes to function in a fuel cell. The modified Nafion(®) membrane had a higher water uptake and a lower water content angle than the commercial Nafion(®) 117 membrane, indicating that it has a greater impact on conductivity. Under strain rates of 40, 30, and 20 mm/min, the nanocomposite membranes demonstrated more stable thermal deterioration and higher mechanical strength, which offers tremendous promise for fuel-cell applications. When compared to 0.113 S/cm and 0.013 S/cm, respectively, of commercial Nafion(®) 117 and Nafion(®) ZrP membranes, the modified Nafion(®) membrane with ammonia sulphate acid had the highest proton conductivity of 7.891 S/cm. When tested using a direct single-cell methanol fuel cell, it also had the highest power density of 183 mW cm(−2) which is better than commercial Nafion(®) 117 and Nafion(®) ZrP membranes. MDPI 2022-01-10 /pmc/articles/PMC8779290/ /pubmed/35054671 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym14020263 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/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 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Sigwadi, Rudzani
Mokrani, Touhami
Msomi, Phumlani
Nemavhola, Fulufhelo
The Effect of Sulfated Zirconia and Zirconium Phosphate Nanocomposite Membranes on Fuel-Cell Efficiency
title The Effect of Sulfated Zirconia and Zirconium Phosphate Nanocomposite Membranes on Fuel-Cell Efficiency
title_full The Effect of Sulfated Zirconia and Zirconium Phosphate Nanocomposite Membranes on Fuel-Cell Efficiency
title_fullStr The Effect of Sulfated Zirconia and Zirconium Phosphate Nanocomposite Membranes on Fuel-Cell Efficiency
title_full_unstemmed The Effect of Sulfated Zirconia and Zirconium Phosphate Nanocomposite Membranes on Fuel-Cell Efficiency
title_short The Effect of Sulfated Zirconia and Zirconium Phosphate Nanocomposite Membranes on Fuel-Cell Efficiency
title_sort effect of sulfated zirconia and zirconium phosphate nanocomposite membranes on fuel-cell efficiency
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8779290/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35054671
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/polym14020263
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