Pre-treatment Effect on the Sulfonated Poly(ether ether ketone) Membrane Transport Properties and Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Performance

Silva, V.; Silva, V.B.; Mendes, A.; Madeira, L.; Silva, H.; Michaelmann, J.; Ruffmann, B.; Pereira Nunes, S.

Journalpaper

Pre-treatment Effect on the Sulfonated Poly(ether ether ketone) Membrane Transport Properties and Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Performance

Abstract

In this paper a critical study is presented on how the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) membrane properties are affected by a pre-treatment. Membranes based on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (sPEEK) with sulfonation degree (SD) of 42% were used, plain and modified inorganically with 1 wt.% of zirconium oxide. Nafion® 1135 was used as reference. The results obtained show that the sPEEK polymer (SD=42%) enables the preparation of proton exchange membranes with improved properties compared to Nafion® and to the ZrO2-modified sPEEK membrane, mainly due to its improved relation between proton conductivity and methanol permeation. After the pre-treatment, the plain sPEEK membrane had a performance 6.4 times higher in terms of maximum power output when used in the DMFC.

DOI Link to Publication

URL: https://publications.hereon.de/id/26126/
Authors:Silva, V., Silva, V.B., Mendes, A., Madeira, L., Silva, H., Michaelmann, J., Ruffmann, B., Pereira Nunes, S.
Year:2007
In: Separation Science and Technology
Volume:42
Issue:SI 13
Pages:2909 - 2925
Publisher:Taylor & Francis, Philadelphia, PA
Type:Journalpaper
ISSN: 0149-6395
Cite as: Silva, V.; Silva, V.B.; Mendes, A.; Madeira, L.; Silva, H.; Michaelmann, J.; Ruffmann, B.; Pereira Nunes, S.: Pre-treatment Effect on the Sulfonated Poly(ether ether ketone) Membrane Transport Properties and Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Performance. In: Separation Science and Technology. Vol. 42 (2007) SI 13, 2909 - 2925. (DOI: 10.1080/01496390701558342)