Influence of incorporation of Zeolitic Imidazolate Framework-67 on the performance and stability of sulfonated Polyvinylidene fluoride proton exchange membrane for fuel cell applications

Kumar Divya, Muhammad Rehman Asghar, Narayanamoorthy Bhuvanendran, Huiyuan Liu, Weiqi Zhang, Qian Xu, Sae Youn Lee, Huaneng Su

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4 Scopus citations

Abstract

In pursuit of enhanced methanol tolerance and thermal stability, a cost-effective solution was developed by integrating varied proportions of zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67), a metal-organic framework, into a sulfonated polyvinylidene fluoride (SPVDF) matrix-based proton exchange membrane (PEM). Through comprehensive characterization, the uniform dispersion and chemical functionalities of SPVDF and ZIF-67 was confirmed by Scanning electron microscopy(SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) respectively. This uniform dispersion is attributed by the electrostatic interaction between the –NH2 group of Himm unit and -SO3H group of SPVDF create a strong hydrogen bonding network (i.e. acid-base pair) resulted in improved membrane surface hydrophilicity, water uptake, proton conductivity. Further the incorporation of ZIF-67 led to a composite membrane with significantly lower methanol permeability (1.5 × 10−7 cm2 s−1) compared to Nafion 117 (20 × 10−7 cm2 s−1). For glass transition and crystallization behavior of SPVDF-1 showed good miscibility enhance the membrane thermal and mechanical stability. This reduction is attributed to the presence of a large active surface area with small pores acting as a barrier against methanol permeation. Furthermore, single-cell tests in a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) demonstrated that the SPVDF-1 membrane achieves a maximum power density of 82.4 mW cm−2, surpassing that of Nafion 117 (75.9 mW cm−2). These results underscore the potential of the developed SPVDF-1 membrane as a promising alternative for DMFC applications.

Original languageEnglish
Article number105903
JournalReactive and Functional Polymers
Volume199
DOIs
StatePublished - Jun 2024

Keywords

  • Acid-base pair
  • Methanol permeability
  • Proton conductivity
  • Sulfonated polyvinylidene fluoride (SPVDF)
  • Zeolitic imidazolate framework-67 (ZIF-67)

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