Abstract
Composite membranes were formed by grafting styrene using supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO-2) impregnation and polymerization procedures. A polypropylene membrane, styrene monomer, divinylbenzene (DVB), and 2,2′-Azoisobutyronitrile (AIBN) were placed in a reactor, and CO−2 was injected into the reactor at 38 ‡C for the scCO−2 impregnation process. After impregnation, the polymerization process was carried out at 78 ‡C. The grafted membranes were sulfonated in concentrated sulfuric acid at 95 ‡C. These polypropylene grafted polystyrene sulfonic acid (PP-g-pssa) membranes were characterized by using various methods. The morphology and structure of the PP-g-pssa membranes were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS). The ion conductivity and methanol permeability were also measured. The ion conductivity of the PP-g-pssa membranes was higher and the methanol permeability of the laminated membrane was lower than that of Nafion membranes. The performance of the PP-g-pssa/Nafion laminated membranes was evaluated in a DMFC unit cell at 90 ‡C.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bae, B. C. and Kim, D. J.,“Sulfonated Polystyrene Grafted Polypropylene Composite Electrolyte Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells,”Journal of Membrane Science,220, 75 (2003).
Beckman, E. J.,“Supercritical and Near-critical CO-2 in Green Chemical Synthesis and Processing,”The Journal of Supercritical Fluids,28, 121 (2004).
Park, C. H., Lee, S. J., Lee, S. A. and Lee, H. C.,“The Effect of Two-Layer Cathode on the Performance of the Direct Methanol Fuel Cell,”Korean J. Chem. Eng.,22, 214 (2005).
Goodenough, J. B., Hamnett, A., Kennedy, B. J., Manoharan, R. and Weeks, S. A.,“Methanol Oxidation on Unsupported and Carbon Supported Pt+Ru Anodes,”Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry,240, 133 (1988).
Hogarth, M. P. and Hards, G A.,“Direct Methanol Fuel Cells, Techno-logical Advances and Further Requirements,”Platinum Metals Revie,40(4), 150 (1996).
Kazarian, S. G.,“Polymer Processing with Supercritical Fluids,”Polymer Science, Ser. C,42, 78 (2000).
Lee, C. S. and Yi, L. C.,“Numerical Methodology for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Simulation using Computational Fluid Dynamics Technique,”Korean J. Chem. Eng.,21, 1153 (2004).
Li, L., Zhang, J. and Wang, Y.,“Sulfonated Poly(ether ether ketone) Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell,”Journal of Membrane Science,226, 159 (2003).
Liu, Z., Dong, Z., Han, B., Wang, J., He, J. and Yang, G.,“Composites Prepared by the Polymerization of Styrene within Supercritical CO2-Swollen Polypropylene,”Chemistry of Materials,14, 4619 (2002).
Liu, Z., Song, L., Dai, X., Yang, G., Han, B. and Xu, J.,“Grafting of Methyl Methylacrylate onto Isotactic Polypropylene Film using Supercritical CO2 as a Swelling Agent,”Polymer,43, 1183 (2002).
Manea, C. and Mulder, M.,“Characterization of Polymer Blends of Polyethersulfone/Sulfonated Polysulfone and Polyethersulfone/Sulfonated Polyetheretherketone for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Applications,”Journal of Membrane Science,206, 443 (2002).
Muth, O., Hirth, T. and Vogel, H.,“Polymer Modification by Supercritical Impregnation,”Journal of Supercritical Fluids,17, 65 (2000).
Otsuka, K. and Yamanaka, I.,“Electrocatalytic Synthesis of Methyl Formate and Methylal from Methanol on a Platinum-bonded Solid Polymer Electrolyte Membrane,”Applied Catalysis,26, 401 (1986).
Parsons, R. and VanderNoot, T.,“The Oxidation of Small Organic Molecules: A Survey of Recent Fuel Cell Related Research,”Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry,257, 9 (1988).
Sauk, J. H., Byun, J. Y. and Kim, H. Y.,“Grafting of Styrene on to Nafion Membranes using Supercritical CO2 Impregnation for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells,”Journal of Power Sources,132, 59 (2004).
Surampudi, S., Narayanan, S. R., Vamos, E., Frank, H., Halpert, G., La-Conti, A., Kosek, J., Surya Prakash, G. K. and Olah, G. A.,“Advanced in Direct Oxidation Methanol Fuel Cells,”Journal of Power Sources,47, 377 (1994).
Tricoli, V., Carretta, N. and Bartolozzi, M.,“A Comparative Investigation of Proton and Methanol Transport in Fluorinated Ionomeric Membranes,”Journal of The Electrochemical Society,147(4), 1286 (2000).
Wang, J., Wasmus, S. and Savinell, R. F.,“Evaluation of Ethanol, 1-Propanol, and 2-Propanol in a Direct Oxidant Polymer-electrolyte Fuel Cell,⌋Journal of Electrochemical Society,142, 4218 (1995).
Woo, Y T., Oh, S. Y., Kang, Y. S. and Jung, B. S.,“Synthesis and Characterization of Sulfonated Polyimide Membranes for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell,”Journal of Membrane Science,220, 31 (2003).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Sauk, J., Byun, J., Kang, Y. et al. Preparation of laminated composite membranes by impregnation of polypropylene with styrene in supercritical CO2 for direct methanol fuel cells. Korean J. Chem. Eng. 22, 605–610 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02706651
Received:
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02706651