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Novel sulfonated multi‐walled carbon nanotubes filled chitosan composite membrane for fuel‐cell applications
Author(s) -
Ahmed Saad,
Ali Muhammad,
Cai Yangben,
Lu Yunhua,
Ahmad Zaheer,
Khannal Santosh,
Xu Shiai
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.47603
Subject(s) - membrane , carbon nanotube , proton exchange membrane fuel cell , materials science , chitosan , chemical engineering , composite number , polymer chemistry , thermal stability , polymerization , propane , composite material , polymer , chemistry , organic chemistry , biochemistry , engineering
ABSTRACT In the present study, multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were sulfonated by 1,3‐propane sultone and distillation–precipitation polymerization, respectively, and then incorporated into chitosan (CS) to prepare CS/MWCNTs composite membranes for fuel cell applications. CS/MWCNTs membranes show better thermal and mechanical stability than pure CS membrane due to the strong electrostatic interaction between the SO 3 H groups of MWCNTs and the NH 2 groups of CS, which can restrict the mobility of CS chain. The sulfonated MWCNTs provide efficient proton hopping sites (SO 3 H, SO 3 − …. 3 + HN), thereby resulting in the formation of continuous proton conducting channels. The composite membranes with 5 wt % of MWCNTs modified by two different ways show a proton conductivity of 0.026 and 0.025 S·cm −1 , respectively. In conclusion, CS/MWCNTs membrane is a promising proton exchange membrane for fuel‐cell applications. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136 , 47603.