Enhanced electrochemical performance and long-term durability of composite membranes through a binary interface with sulfonated unzipped graphite nanofibers for polymer electrolyte fuel cells operating under low relative humidity

Ae Rhan Kim; Vinothkannan Mohanraj; Shanmugam  Ramakrishnan; Byung-Hyun Park; Myung-Kwan Han; Dong Jin Yoo

doi:10.1016/j.apsusc.2022.153407

Enhanced electrochemical performance and long-term durability of composite membranes through a binary interface with sulfonated unzipped graphite nanofibers for polymer electrolyte fuel cells operating under low relative humidity

Ae Rhan Kim, Vinothkannan Mohanraj, Shanmugam Ramakrishnan, Byung-Hyun Park, Myung-Kwan Han, Dong Jin Yoo

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

75 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The phenylsulfonic-acid functionalized, and unzipped graphite nanofiber (SO₃H-UGNF) was studied as a potential proton-conductive material to embed in a sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) to create proton exchange membrane (PEM) for polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) working under low relative humidity (RH). First, we used ammonium fluoride as an unzipping agent to adapt GNF to UGNF, and then functionalized UGNF with 4-benzene diazonium sulfonate to obtain SO₃H-UGNF. Subsequently, we prepared a nanohybrid membrane by integrating SO₃H-UGNF in SPEEK at 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt%. Compared to SPEEK alone, SPEEK/SO₃H-UGNF demonstrated higher water uptake, ion exchange capacity, water sorption, wettability, thermal stability, and tensile strength. The optimized SPEEK/SO₃H-UGNF (1 wt%) showed the improved physicochemical, thermal, and tensile properties. This nanohybrid membrane also showed excellent proton conductivity under 20% RH at 90 °C, which is 2.1 times better than SPEEK membrane. When applied as a PEM in a PEFC operating under 20% RH at 60 °C, the maximum power density and durability of SPEEK/SO₃H-UGNF (1 wt%) membrane was higher than SPEEK membrane. After durability operation, it also demonstrated better morphological integrity. This study affords valuable insights on SPEEK-based nanohybrid membrane fabrication and optimization for PEFC operating under low RH condition.

Original language	English
Article number	153407
Number of pages	13
Journal	Applied Surface Science Advances
Volume	593
Early online date	15 Apr 2022
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2022.153407
Publication status	Published - 15 Aug 2022
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier B.V.

Funder

This research was supported by Basic Science Research through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2021R1I1A1A01050905). This work was supported by grants from the Medical Research Center Program (NRF‐2017R1A5A2015061) through the National Research Foundation (NRF), which is funded by the Korean government (MSIP). This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (NRF-2020R1A2B5B01001458).

Funding

This research was supported by Basic Science Research through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2021R1I1A1A01050905). This work was supported by grants from the Medical Research Center Program (NRF-2017R1A5A2015061) through the National Research Foundation (NRF), which is funded by the Korean government (MSIP). This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (NRF-2020R1A2B5B01001458). This research was supported by Basic Science Research through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (NRF-2021R1I1A1A01050905). This work was supported by grants from the Medical Research Center Program (NRF‐2017R1A5A2015061) through the National Research Foundation (NRF), which is funded by the Korean government (MSIP). This research was supported by Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (NRF-2020R1A2B5B01001458).

Funders	Funder number
National Research Foundation of Korea
Ministry of Education	NRF-2021R1I1A1A01050905
Medical Research Center Program	NRF‐2017R1A5A2015061
Ministry of Science and ICT	2020R1A2B5B01001458

Keywords

Durability
Electrochemical performance
Low humidity operation
SO H-UGNF
SPEEK

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Condensed Matter Physics
Surfaces, Coatings and Films
Surfaces and Interfaces

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Kim, A. R., Mohanraj, V., Ramakrishnan, S., Park, B.-H., Han, M.-K., & Yoo, D. J. (2022). Enhanced electrochemical performance and long-term durability of composite membranes through a binary interface with sulfonated unzipped graphite nanofibers for polymer electrolyte fuel cells operating under low relative humidity. Applied Surface Science Advances, 593, Article 153407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2022.153407

Enhanced electrochemical performance and long-term durability of composite membranes through a binary interface with sulfonated unzipped graphite nanofibers for polymer electrolyte fuel cells operating under low relative humidity. / Kim, Ae Rhan; Mohanraj, Vinothkannan; Ramakrishnan, Shanmugam et al.
In: Applied Surface Science Advances, Vol. 593, 153407, 15.08.2022.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Kim, AR, Mohanraj, V, Ramakrishnan, S, Park, B-H, Han, M-K & Yoo, DJ 2022, 'Enhanced electrochemical performance and long-term durability of composite membranes through a binary interface with sulfonated unzipped graphite nanofibers for polymer electrolyte fuel cells operating under low relative humidity', Applied Surface Science Advances, vol. 593, 153407. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2022.153407

Kim AR, Mohanraj V, Ramakrishnan S, Park BH, Han MK, Yoo DJ. Enhanced electrochemical performance and long-term durability of composite membranes through a binary interface with sulfonated unzipped graphite nanofibers for polymer electrolyte fuel cells operating under low relative humidity. Applied Surface Science Advances. 2022 Aug 15;593:153407. Epub 2022 Apr 15. doi: 10.1016/j.apsusc.2022.153407

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abstract = "The phenylsulfonic-acid functionalized, and unzipped graphite nanofiber (SO3H-UGNF) was studied as a potential proton-conductive material to embed in a sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) to create proton exchange membrane (PEM) for polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) working under low relative humidity (RH). First, we used ammonium fluoride as an unzipping agent to adapt GNF to UGNF, and then functionalized UGNF with 4-benzene diazonium sulfonate to obtain SO3H-UGNF. Subsequently, we prepared a nanohybrid membrane by integrating SO3H-UGNF in SPEEK at 0.1, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt%. Compared to SPEEK alone, SPEEK/SO3H-UGNF demonstrated higher water uptake, ion exchange capacity, water sorption, wettability, thermal stability, and tensile strength. The optimized SPEEK/SO3H-UGNF (1 wt%) showed the improved physicochemical, thermal, and tensile properties. This nanohybrid membrane also showed excellent proton conductivity under 20% RH at 90 °C, which is 2.1 times better than SPEEK membrane. When applied as a PEM in a PEFC operating under 20% RH at 60 °C, the maximum power density and durability of SPEEK/SO3H-UGNF (1 wt%) membrane was higher than SPEEK membrane. After durability operation, it also demonstrated better morphological integrity. This study affords valuable insights on SPEEK-based nanohybrid membrane fabrication and optimization for PEFC operating under low RH condition.",

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AU - Park, Byung-Hyun

AU - Han, Myung-Kwan

AU - Yoo, Dong Jin

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Enhanced electrochemical performance and long-term durability of composite membranes through a binary interface with sulfonated unzipped graphite nanofibers for polymer electrolyte fuel cells operating under low relative humidity

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funder

Funding

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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