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. 2018 Feb 15;10(2):194.
doi: 10.3390/polym10020194.

Thermal Stability and Water Content Study of Void-Free Electrospun SPEEK/Cloisite Membrane for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Application

Nuha Awang  1   2 , Juhana Jaafar  3   4 , Ahmad Fauzi Ismail  5   6
Affiliations

Thermal Stability and Water Content Study of Void-Free Electrospun SPEEK/Cloisite Membrane for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Application

Nuha Awang et al. Polymers (Basel). .

Abstract

Void-free electrospun SPEEK/Cloisite15A® densed (SP/e-spunCL) membranes are prepared. Different loadings of Cloisite15A® (0.10, 0.15, 0.20, 0.25 and 0.30 wt %) are incorporated into electrospun fibers. The physico-chemical characteristics (methanol permeability, water uptake and proton conductivity) of the membranes are observed. Thermal stability of all membranes is observed using Thermal Gravimetry Analysis (TGA). The thrree stages of degradation range between 163.1 and 613.1 °C. Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC) is used to study the wettability of the membranes. SP/e-spunCL15 shows the lowest freezing bound water of 15.27%, which contributed to the lowest methanol permeability. The non-freezing bound water that proportionally increased with proton conductivity of SP/e-spunCL15 membrane is the highest, 10.60%. It is suggested that the electrospinning as the fabricating method has successfully exfoliated the Cloisite in the membrane surface structure, contributing to the decrease of methanol permeability, while the retained water has led to the enhancement of proton conductivity. This new fabrication method of SP/e-spunCL membrane is said to be a desirable polymer electrolyte membrane for future application in direct methanol fuel cell field.

Keywords: electrospinning; membrane; thermal analysis; wettability.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
(a–c) The preparation steps in producing void free dense SP/e-spun CL membranes.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Schematic diagram of the proton conductivity cell.
Figure 3
Figure 3
TGA of SPEEK and SP/e-spunCL membranes with various formulations.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Water uptake of all SP/e-spunCL membranes and Nafion 117®.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Proton conductivity of Nafion117® and all membrane samples at room temperature.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Methanol permeability of Nafion117® and all membrane samples at room temperature.
Figure 7
Figure 7
Fiber diameter for: (a) SP/e-spunCL15; and (b) SP/e-spunCL10.
Figure 8
Figure 8
DSC curves heating for SP/e-spunCL and SPEEK membranes.
Figure 9
Figure 9
DSC curves reheating for SP/e-spunCL and SPEEK membranes.
Figure 10
Figure 10
Transport Model of proton and methanol in: (a) parent SPEEK; and (b) SP/e-spunCL membranes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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