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Title: Electrospun Nafion®/Polyphenylsulfone composite membranes for regenerative Hydrogen bromine fuel cells

Abstract

Here, the regenerative H2/Br2-HBr fuel cell, utilizing an oxidant solution of Br2 in aqueous HBr, shows a number of benefits for grid-scale electricity storage. The membrane-electrode assembly, a key component of a fuel cell, contains a proton-conducting membrane, typically based on the perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomer. Unfortunately, the high cost of PFSA membranes and their relatively high bromine crossover are serious drawbacks. Nanofiber composite membranes can overcome these limitations. In this work, composite membranes were prepared from electrospun dual-fiber mats containing Nafion® PFSA ionomer for facile proton transport and an uncharged polymer, polyphenylsulfone (PPSU), for mechanical reinforcement, and swelling control. After electrospinning, Nafion/PPSU mats were converted into composite membranes by softening the PPSU fibers, through exposure to chloroform vapor, thus filling the voids between ionomer nanofibers. It was demonstrated that the relative membrane selectivity, referenced to Nafion® 115, increased with increasing PPSU content, e.g., a selectivity of 11 at 25 vol% of Nafion fibers. H2-Br2 fuel cell power output with a 65 m thick membrane containing 55 vol% Nafion fibers was somewhat better than that of a 150 m Nafion® 115 reference, but its cost advantage due to a four-fold decrease in PFSA content and a lower bromine species crossovermore » make it an attractive candidate for use in H2/Br2-HBr systems.« less

Authors:
 [1]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [2];  [2]
  1. Vanderbilt Univ., Nashville, TN (United States)
  2. Univ. of Kansas, Lawrence, KS (United States)
Publication Date:
Research Org.:
TVN Systems, Inc., Lawrence, KS (United States)
Sponsoring Org.:
USDOE Advanced Research Projects Agency - Energy (ARPA-E)
OSTI Identifier:
1257978
Grant/Contract Number:  
AR0000262
Resource Type:
Journal Article: Accepted Manuscript
Journal Name:
Materials
Additional Journal Information:
Journal Volume: 9; Journal Issue: 3; Journal ID: ISSN 1996-1944
Publisher:
MDPI
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Subject:
30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION; proton conducting membrane; electrospinning; Nafion; polyphenylsulfone; redox flow battery; regenerative fuel cell; hydrogen fuel cell; bromine

Citation Formats

Park, Jun, Wycisk, Ryszard, Pintauro, Peter N., Yarlagadda, Venkata, and Van Nguyen, Trung. Electrospun Nafion®/Polyphenylsulfone composite membranes for regenerative Hydrogen bromine fuel cells. United States: N. p., 2016. Web. doi:10.3390/ma9030143.
Park, Jun, Wycisk, Ryszard, Pintauro, Peter N., Yarlagadda, Venkata, & Van Nguyen, Trung. Electrospun Nafion®/Polyphenylsulfone composite membranes for regenerative Hydrogen bromine fuel cells. United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9030143
Park, Jun, Wycisk, Ryszard, Pintauro, Peter N., Yarlagadda, Venkata, and Van Nguyen, Trung. 2016. "Electrospun Nafion®/Polyphenylsulfone composite membranes for regenerative Hydrogen bromine fuel cells". United States. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma9030143. https://www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/1257978.
@article{osti_1257978,
title = {Electrospun Nafion®/Polyphenylsulfone composite membranes for regenerative Hydrogen bromine fuel cells},
author = {Park, Jun and Wycisk, Ryszard and Pintauro, Peter N. and Yarlagadda, Venkata and Van Nguyen, Trung},
abstractNote = {Here, the regenerative H2/Br2-HBr fuel cell, utilizing an oxidant solution of Br2 in aqueous HBr, shows a number of benefits for grid-scale electricity storage. The membrane-electrode assembly, a key component of a fuel cell, contains a proton-conducting membrane, typically based on the perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomer. Unfortunately, the high cost of PFSA membranes and their relatively high bromine crossover are serious drawbacks. Nanofiber composite membranes can overcome these limitations. In this work, composite membranes were prepared from electrospun dual-fiber mats containing Nafion® PFSA ionomer for facile proton transport and an uncharged polymer, polyphenylsulfone (PPSU), for mechanical reinforcement, and swelling control. After electrospinning, Nafion/PPSU mats were converted into composite membranes by softening the PPSU fibers, through exposure to chloroform vapor, thus filling the voids between ionomer nanofibers. It was demonstrated that the relative membrane selectivity, referenced to Nafion® 115, increased with increasing PPSU content, e.g., a selectivity of 11 at 25 vol% of Nafion fibers. H2-Br2 fuel cell power output with a 65 m thick membrane containing 55 vol% Nafion fibers was somewhat better than that of a 150 m Nafion® 115 reference, but its cost advantage due to a four-fold decrease in PFSA content and a lower bromine species crossover make it an attractive candidate for use in H2/Br2-HBr systems.},
doi = {10.3390/ma9030143},
url = {https://www.osti.gov/biblio/1257978}, journal = {Materials},
issn = {1996-1944},
number = 3,
volume = 9,
place = {United States},
year = {Mon Feb 29 00:00:00 EST 2016},
month = {Mon Feb 29 00:00:00 EST 2016}
}

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Free Publicly Available Full Text
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Cited by: 18 works
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Works referencing / citing this record:

Electrospun Ionomeric Fibers with Anion Conducting Properties
journal, April 2019


Boron nitride: a promising material for proton exchange membranes for energy applications
journal, January 2019


Electrospinning of Nanofibers for Energy Applications
journal, July 2016