Publication: Using Metal-Organic Framework HKUST-1 for the Preparation of High-Conductive Hybrid Membranes Based on Multiblock Copolymers for Fuel Cells
Loading...
Identifiers
Publication date
2023-01-08
Defense date
Advisors
Tutors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI
Impact
Export
Abstract
Novel proton-conducting hybrid membranes consisting of sulfonated multiblock copolymer of polysulfone and polyphenylsulfone (SPES) reinforced with a HKUST-1 metal-organic framework (MOF) (5, 10, and 20 wt. %) were prepared and characterized for fuel cell applications. The presence of the MOF in the copolymer was confirmed by means of FE-SEM and EDS. The hybrid membranes show a lower contact angle value than the pure SPES, in agreement with the water uptake (WU%), i.e., by adding 5 wt. % of the MOF, this parameter increases by 20% and 40% at 30 °C and 60 °C, respectively. Additionally, the presence of the MOF increases the ion exchange capacity (IEC) from 1.62 to 1.93 mequivH+ g−1. Thermogravimetric analysis reveals that the hybrid membranes demonstrate high thermal stability in the fuel cell operation temperature range ( 85 MPa in the Na+ form). Proton conductivity was analyzed using EIS, achieving the highest value with a 5 wt. % load of the HKUST-1. This value is lower than that observed for the HKUST-1/Nafion system. However, polarization and power density curves show a remarkably better performance of the hybrid membranes in comparison to both the pure SPES and the pure Nafion membranes
Description
Keywords
Polysulfone, Fuel cells, Impedance spectroscopy, Metal-organic frameworks, Multiblock copolymer
Bibliographic citation
Gorban, I., Ureña, N., Pérez-Prior, M. T., Várez, A., Levenfeld, B., Del Río, C., & Soldatov, M. A. (2023). Using Metal-Organic Framework HKUST-1 for the Preparation of High-Conductive Hybrid Membranes Based on Multiblock Copolymers for Fuel Cells. Polymers, 15(2), 323.