Carboxyl-functionalized nanocellulose/sulfonated poly(aryl ether ether ketone ketone) composites for proton exchange membrane by electrospinning

Abstract

A novel nanocomposite proton-exchange membrane (PEM) was obtained by combined electrospinning and solution casting of a composite solution of sulfophenylated poly(ether ether ketone ketone) (SP-PEEKK) and maleic anhydride modified nanocellulose (MN). SP-PEEKK was prepared by polymerization between phenyl hydroquinone and 1,4-bis(4-fluorobenzoyl)benzene followed by post-sulfonation. Nanocellulose (NCC) was prepared by the acid treatment of MCC with sulfuric acid, and MN with carboxyl group was obtained by modifying NCC with maleic anhydride. PEMs with 2% MN (MN2) showed a water uptake of 28% at 100°C, which was higher than that of MN0 (with 0% MN content). MN2 possessed a high tensile strength of 48.7 MPa, Young’s modulus of 1.3 GPa, and elongation at break of 34%, which was 54%, 21%, and 16% higher than those of MN0, respectively. Thus, the ordered distributed of MN was illustrated to be the effective reinforcing material for SP-PEEKK membranes because of the strong interface between the hydroxyl group of rigid MN and the sulfonic acid group of SP-PEEKK. MN2 also had a substantially higher proton conductivity of 0.09 S cm⁻¹ at 90°C than MN0 (0.037 S cm⁻¹). Therefore, combined electrospinning and solution casting was found to be a promising choice to improve the proton conductivity of nanocomposite PEMs, as promoted by the three-dimensional hydrogen bond-proton-transport network formed by the well-oriented MN in SPEEKK produced by the electrospinning.

Keywords

Proton-exchange membrane electrospinning poly(aryl ether ketone)nanocellulose

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ashok

Thundil Karuppa Raj

Nanthagopal

, et al. Lemon peel oil – A novel renewable alternative energy source for diesel engine. Energy Convers Manag 2017; 139: 110–121.

Dresselhaus

Thomas

. Alternative energy technologies. Nature 2001; 414(6861): 332–337.

Atabani

Silitonga

Badruddin

, et al. A comprehensive review on biodiesel as an alternative energy resource and its characteristics,. Renew Sustain Energy Rev 2012; 16(4): 2070–2093.

Zhang

Xiao

, et al. Grafted porous PTFE/partially fluorinated sulfonated poly(arylene ether ketone) composite membrane for PEMFC applications, J. Membr. Sci, 2011, 376(1–2): 170–178.

Tran

MorozAn

Archambault

, et al. A noble metal-free proton-exchange membrane fuel cell based on bio-inspired molecular catalysts. Chem Sci 2015; 6(3): 2050–2053.

Liu

Chen

, et al. Soluble aromatic poly(ether ketone)s with a pendant 3,5-ditrifluoromethylphenyl group. Polymer 2004; 45(10): 3241–3247.

Xing

Robertson

Guiver

, et al. Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) for proton exchange membranes. J. Membr. Sci 2004; 229(1-2): 95–106.

Mistri

Mohanty

Banerjee

. Synthesis and characterization of new fluorinated poly(ether imide) copolymers with controlled degree of sulfonation for proton exchange membranes. J. Membr. Sci 2012; 411-412(none): 117–129.

Mistri

Banerjee

. Cross-linked sulfonated poly(ether imide)/silica organic–inorganic hybrid materials: proton exchange membrane properties. RSC Adv 2014; 4(43): 22398–22410.

10.

Mukherjee

Mandal

Banerjee

. Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) functionalized polysilsesquioxane hybrid membranes with enhanced proton conductivity. E-Polymers 2020; 20: 430–442.

11.

Ghosh

Banerjee

. Sulfonated fluorinated-aromatic polymers as proton exchange membranes. E-Polymers 2014; 14(4): 227–257.

12.

Wang

Hickner

Kim

, et al. Direct polymerization of sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) random (statistical) copolymers: candidates for new proton exchange membranes. J. Membr. Sci 2002; 197(1–2): 231–242.

13.

Wang

Hickner

, et al. Synthesis of highly sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) random(statistical) copolymers via direct polymerization. Macromol Symp 2001; 175(1): 387–396.

14.

Wang

Chen

, et al. Synthesis and characterization of poly (arylene ether ketone)(co) polymers containing sulfonate groups. Polymer 2006; 47(11): 4148–4153.

15.

Newton

Rose

. Relative reactivities of the functional groups involved in synthesis of poly (phenylene ether sulphones) from halogenated derivatives of diphenyl sulphone. Polymer 1972; 13(10): 465–474.

16.

Yang

Tang

. Metal–organic framework–graphene oxide composites: a facile method to highly improve the proton conductivity of PEMs operated under low humidity. J Mater Chem A Mater 2015; 3(31): 15838–15842.

17.

Gil

, et al. Direct synthesis of sulfonated aromatic poly (ether ether ketone) proton exchange membranes for fuel cell applications. J. Membr. Sci 2004; 234(1-2): 75–81.

18.

Mikhailenko

Robertson

Guiver

, et al. Properties of PEMs based on cross-linked sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone). J. Membr. Sci 2006; 285(1–2): 306–316.

19.

Wang

Bai

Zhang

, et al. Anhydrous proton exchange membrane of sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) enabled by polydopamine-modified silica nanoparticles. Electrochimica Acta 2015; 152: 443–455.

20.

Karimi

Mohammadi

Hooshyari

. Potential use of deep eutectic solvents (DESs) to enhance anhydrous proton conductivity of Nafion 115 membrane for fuel cell applications. J. Membr. Sci 2020; 611: 118217.

21.

Huang

Zhang

Kotaki

, et al. A review on polymer nanofibers by electrospinning and their applications in nanocomposites. Compos Sci Technol 2003; 63(15): 2223–2253.

22.

Brown

Dalton

Hutmacher

. Melt electrospinning today: An opportune time for an emerging polymer process. Prog Polym Sci 2016; 56: 116–166.

23.

Zhang

Kang

, et al. Electrospinning preparation of a graphene oxide nanohybrid proton-exchange membrane for fuel cells. J Appl Polym Sci 2018; 135(27): 46443.

24.

Anirudhan

Deepa

Binussreejayan . Electrochemical sensing of cholesterol by molecularly imprinted polymer of silylated graphene oxide and chemically modified nanocellulose polymer. Mater Sci Eng C Mater Biol Appl 2018; 92: 942–956.

25.

Börjesson

Westman

. Crystalline nanocellulose—preparation, modification, and properties. In: Cellulose-Fundamental Aspects and Current Trends, London, UK: Intech, 2015: 159–191.

26.

Zhao

Liang

You

, et al. Proton conductivity improvement effect of cellulose on SPEEKK Based PEM. Chem Res Chin Univ 2019; 35(5): 916–923.

27.

Huq

Salmieri

Khan

, et al. Nanocrystalline cellulose (NCC) reinforced alginate based biodegradable nanocomposite film. Carbohydr Polym 2012; 90(4): 1757–1763.

28.

Wei

Shang

, et al. Modified nanocrystal cellulose/fluorene-containing sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone ketone) composites for proton exchange membranes. Appl. Surf. Sci 2017; 416: 996–1006.

29.

Marcovich

Auad

Bellesi

, et al. Cellulose micro/nanocrystals reinforced polyurethane. J Mater Res 2006; 21(4): 870–881.

30.

Wei

, et al. Sulfonated nanocrystal cellulose/sulfophenylated poly (ether ether ketone ketone) composites for proton exchange membranes. RSC Adv 2016; 6(69): 65072–65080.

31.

Curtin

Lousenberg

Henry

, et al. Advanced materials for improved PEMFC performance and life. J. Power Sources 2004; 131(1–2): 41–48.

32.

Wang

Zhang

Yang

, et al. Enhanced water retention by using polymeric microcapsules to confer high proton conductivity on membranes at low humidity. Adv Funct Mater 2011; 21(5): 971–978.

33.

Gong

, et al. Aligned electrospun nanofibers as proton conductive channels through thickness of sulfonated poly (phthalazinone ether sulfone ketone) proton exchange membranes. J Power Sources. 2017; 358: 134–141.

34.

Bayer

Cunning

Selyanchyn

, et al. High temperature proton conduction in nanocellulose membranes: paper fuel cells. Chem Mater 2016; 28(13): 4805–4814.

35.

Zhou

Zheng

, et al. Effect of nanocellulose isolation techniques on the formation of reinforced poly (vinyl alcohol) nanocomposite films. Express Polym Lett 2012; 6(10): 794–804.

36.

Bahavan Palani

Kannan

Rajashabala

, et al. Effect of nano-composite on polyvinyl alcohol-based proton conducting membrane for direct methanol fuel cell applications. Ionics 2015; 21(2): 507–513.

37.

Won

Lee

Lim

, et al. Anomalous behavior of proton transport and dimensional stability of sulfonated poly (arylene ether sulfone) nonwoven/silicate composite proton exchange membrane with dual phase co-continuous morphology. J Membr. Sci 2014; 450: 235–241.

Supplementary Material

Please find the following supplemental material available below.

For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.

For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.

0.00 MB

0.48 MB