More sustainable electricity generation in hot and dry fuel cells with a novel hybrid membrane of Nafion/nano-silica/hydroxyl ionic liquid

Li, Yan; Shi, Yan; Mehio, Nada; Tan, Mingsheng; Wang, Zhiyong; Hu, Xiaohong; Chen, George Z.; Dai, Sheng; Jin, Xianbo

Abstract

A new hybrid proton exchange membrane (PEM) has been prepared from hydroxyl functionalized imidazolium ionic liquid (IL-OH), Nafion and nano-SiO2. The IL-OH, with a hydroxyl group that acts as both a proton acceptor and donor, forms strong hydrogen bonds with both Nafion and nano-SiO2, resulting in an effective hydrogen bond network in the ternary membrane. Such an anhydrous hydrogen-bond network, which is unknown previously, endows the PEMs with higher proton conductivity, greater thermal stability and surprisingly a more robust mechanical performance than PEMs consisting of conventional ionic liquids. The resulting PEMs have a tensile strength that is more than twice as strong as recast Nafion and an anhydrous ionic conductivity of ∼55 mS cm−1 at temperatures above 160 °C, with a proton transfer number of ∼0.9. A laboratory assembled H2–O2 fuel cell employing this new PEM delivered a power density of 340 and 420 mW cm−2 at 160 and 180 °C, respectively.

Citation

Li, Y., Shi, Y., Mehio, N., Tan, M., Wang, Z., Hu, X., Chen, G. Z., Dai, S., & Jin, X. (2016). More sustainable electricity generation in hot and dry fuel cells with a novel hybrid membrane of Nafion/nano-silica/hydroxyl ionic liquid. Applied Energy, 175, 451-458. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.03.075

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Mar 17, 2016
• Online Publication Date: Mar 24, 2016
• Publication Date: Aug 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Jun 6, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 6, 2016
• Journal: Applied Energy
• Print ISSN: 0306-2619
• Electronic ISSN: 0306-2619
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 175
• Pages: 451-458
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.03.075
• Keywords: General Energy; Mechanical Engineering; Civil and Structural Engineering; Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law; Building and Construction
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/797764
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.03.075
• Contract Date: Jun 6, 2016