Premium
Porous polyether sulfone for direct methanol fuel cell applications: Structural analysis
Author(s) -
Junoh Hazlina,
Jaafar Juhana,
M. Nordin Nik Abdul Hadi,
Ismail Ahmad F.,
Othman Mohd H. D.,
Rahman Mukhlis A.,
Aziz Farhana,
Yusof Norhaniza,
Sayed Daud Syarifah Noor S.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
international journal of energy research
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.808
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1099-114X
pISSN - 0363-907X
DOI - 10.1002/er.5921
Subject(s) - solvent , methanol , membrane , sulfolane , chemical engineering , phase inversion , porosity , dimethylacetamide , proton exchange membrane fuel cell , evaporation , direct methanol fuel cell , chemistry , materials science , scanning electron microscope , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , thermodynamics , biochemistry , physics , electrode , anode , engineering
Summary Porous poly ether sulfone (PES) membranes were prepared using two different solvents which were N ‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidone and dimethylacetamide (DMAc) via dry/wet non‐solvent phase inversion (NIPS) techniques. PES with the compositions of 18 wt% is prepared for each dope solution. During the membrane casting process, 0 to 5 minutes delay prior to immersion in coagulant bath is set in order to allow solvent evaporation to take place. Water is used as the non‐solvent for solvent exchange process. The prepared membranes are characterised based on their morphological aspect using scanning electron microscopy towards the effect of solvent evaporation time and solution viscosity. The changes in proton conductivity, methanol permeability, water uptake and hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity behaviours are also studied. Conclusively, the 18 wt% PES membranes prepared with DMAc as solvent at 3 minutes solvent evaporation time exhibited desirable pore size for proton conduction (0.04 × 10 −3 Scm −1 ) and methanol resistant effect that consequently contribute to considerably low methanol permeability rate at 0.06 × 10 −7 cm 2 s −1 which could elevate the direct methanol fuel cell performance.