Novel ETFE based radiation grafted poly(styrene sulfonic acid-co-methacrylonitrile) proton conducting membranes with increased stability

Ben youcef, Hicham and Gubler, Lorenz and Alkan Gürsel, Selmiye and Henkensmeier, Dirk and Wokaun, Alexander and Scherer, Günther G. (2009) Novel ETFE based radiation grafted poly(styrene sulfonic acid-co-methacrylonitrile) proton conducting membranes with increased stability. Electrochemistry Communications, 11 (5). pp. 941-944. ISSN 1388-2481

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Abstract

Styrene radiation grafted ETFE based proton conducting membranes are subject to degradation under fuel cell operating conditions and show a poor stability. Lifetimes exceeding 250 h can only be achieved with crosslinked membranes. In this study, a novel approach based on the increase of the intrinsic oxidative stability of uncrosslinked membranes is reported. Hence, the co-grafting of styrene with methacrylonitrile (MAN), which possesses a protected α-position and strong dipolar pendant nitrile group, onto 25 μm ETFE base film was investigated. Styrene/MAN co-grafted membranes were compared to a styrene based membrane in durability tests in single H2/O2 fuel cells. It is shown that the incorporation of MAN considerably improves the chemical stability, yielding fuel cell lifetimes exceeding 1000 h. The membrane preparation based on the co-grafting of styrene and MAN offers the prospect of tuning the MAN content and introduction of a crosslinker to enhance the oxidative stability of the resulting fuel cell membranes.
Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: Polymer electrolyte fuel cell; Proton exchange membrane; Radiation grafting; Styrene; Methacrylonitrile; Membrane electrode assembly
Subjects: Q Science > QD Chemistry > QD450-801 Physical and theoretical chemistry
Divisions: Faculty of Engineering and Natural Sciences
Depositing User: Selmiye Alkan Gürsel
Date Deposited: 14 May 2009 15:49
Last Modified: 26 Apr 2022 08:23
URI: https://research.sabanciuniv.edu/id/eprint/10001

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