Fumed Silica Nanoparticles Incorporated in Quaternized Poly(Vinyl Alcohol) Nanocomposite Membrane for Enhanced Power Densities in Direct Alcohol Alkaline Fuel Cells

Selvaraj Rajesh Kumar, Cheng Hsin Juan, Guan Ming Liao, Jia Shiun Lin, Chun Chen Yang, Wei Ting Ma, Jiann Hua You, Shingjiang Jessie Lue*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalJournal Article peer-review

28 Scopus citations

Abstract

A nanocomposite polymer membrane based on quaternized poly(vinyl alcohol)/fumed silica (QPVA/FS) was prepared via a quaternization process and solution casting method. The physico-chemical properties of the QPVA/FS membrane were investigated. Its high ionic conductivity was found to depend greatly on the concentration of fumed silica in the QPVA matrix. A maximum conductivity of 3.50 × 10-2 S/cm was obtained for QPVA/5%FS at 60 °C when it was doped with 6 M KOH. The permeabilities of methanol and ethanol were reduced with increasing fumed silica content. Cell voltage and peak power density were analyzed as functions of fumed silica concentration, temperature, methanol and ethanol concentrations. A maximum power density of 96.8 mW/cm2 was achieved with QPVA/5%FS electrolyte using 2Mmethanol + 6MKOH as fuel at 80 °C. A peak power density of 79 mW/cm2 was obtained using the QPVA/5%FS electrolyte with 3 M ethanol + 5 M KOH as fuel. The resulting peak power densities are higher than the majority of published reports. The results confirm that QPVA/FS exhibits promise as a future polymeric electrolyte for use in direct alkaline alcoholic fuel cells.

Original languageEnglish
Article number15
JournalEnergies
Volume9
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

  • Cell performance
  • Ethanol
  • Fumed silica
  • Ionic conductivity
  • Methanol
  • Quaternized poly(vinyl alcohol)

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