Poly(vinyl alcohol) modified by KE reactive dyes as a novel proton‐exchange membrane for potential fuel‐cell applications |
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Authors: | Tianchi Zhou Xuemei He Kongliang Xie |
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Affiliation: | 1. College of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering, and Biotechnology, Donghua University, Shanghai, China;2. YanCheng Institute of Technology, Yancheng, China |
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Abstract: | A new type of proton‐exchange membrane based on poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) modified KE reactive dyes (KE‐4BD) was prepared and evaluated as H+‐conducting polymer electrolytes. The effects of the content of KE‐4BD on the membrane H+ conductivity and water uptake were studied with an alternating‐current impedance technique and the method of weighing, respectively. Fourier transform infrared and scanning electron microscopy were used for the chemical and structural characterization of these membranes. With all of these properties, the optimal mass ratio between PVA and KE‐4BD was 1:0.5, and the resulting membrane exhibited a high proton conductivity (0.109 S/cm) at room temperature; this afforded a power density of 83.9 mW/cm2 at 210.4 mA/cm2 and an open‐circuit voltage of 810.8 mV. The PVA/KE‐4BD membranes showed a high oxidative stability in Fenton's reagent (3% H2O2 v/v, 2 ppm FeSO4). Thermal analysis also showed that the membranes exhibited a significant improvement in thermal stability. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43019. |
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Keywords: | dyes/pigments electrochemistry membranes |
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