Integrated manufacturing of REciclable multi-material COmposites for the TRANSport sector
Synthesis of composite corn starch/hydroxyapatite nanoparticle biomembranes and their effect on mineralization by osteoblasts
An illustration of proton transport nanochannels in SPSIm/HNT membrane.AbstractNanocomposite polyelectrolyte membranes based on sulfonated polystyrene (SPS) /imidazole?2?acetic acid (Im) blend (SPSIm), incorporated with halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) were studied for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) applications. Firstly, PS was sulfonated at various degrees of sulfonation (DS), and the optimum DS was selected based on hydrolytic stability. Then, SPS was blended with Im as new proton conducting sites. In addition to increasing proton conductivity, methanol permeability decreased due to the attractive interaction between Im and ?SO3H groups in SPS. In the next step, to introduce tortuous diffusion pathways and hence decrease the methanol crossover, halloysite nanotubes were incorporated into the SPSIm matrix. The results show that the methanol permeability of the membrane incorporated with 1?wt% HNT (SPSIm/HNT) was around 0.527?×?10?7?cm2?s?1, which showed a significant decrease compared to SPS, causing an improvement in the membrane selectivity parameter in comparison to pristine SPS membrane. Furthermore, the thermal properties, ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake behavior, and performance of the membranes were evaluated. Based on the results, owing to the reduced methanol permeability, acceptable power density, ease of preparation, as well as low cost, SPSIm/HNT could be considered for DMFC applications.
» Publication Date: 19/08/2023
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement Nº 768737
