0000000000283047
AUTHOR
C.m. Pecoraro
Phosphomolybdic acid and mixed phosphotungstic/phosphomolybdic acid chitosan membranes as polymer electrolyte for H2/O2 fuel cells
Abstract Flat, free-standing phosphomolybdic acid and mixed phosphotungstic/phosphomolybdic acid chitosan membranes were prepared by in-situ ionotropic gelation process at room temperature on porous alumina support firstly impregnated by heteropolyacid. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the formation of compact and homogenous polymeric membranes, whose thickness resulted to be dependent on reticulation time, and almost independent on the employed heteropolyacid nature and concentration. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy evidenced the formation of crystalline membranes without appreciable concentration of unprotonated NH 2 groups and heteropolyacid ions with p…
Heteropolyacids - Chitosan Membranes for H2/O2 Low Temperature Fuel Cells
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have received much attention in recent years because of their high power density, efficiency and zero-environmental pollution. As one of the key components in fuel cells, the proton exchange membrane is expected to have high proton conductivity and good electrochemical stability. In the attempt to promote PEMCFs commercialization, high cost of fuel cell systems and short lifecycle are the two main issues that need to be addressed, thus large research effort has been devoted in developing new polymer electrolytes that can replace the usually employed proton conductors, e.g. Nafion®, with other membranes of comparable performances but lower cost.A…
Improvement in the performance of low temperature H2-O2 fuel cell with chitosanephosphotungstic acid composite membranes
Abstract Free-standing chitosan/phosphotungstic acid polyelectrolyte membranes, prepared by ionotropic gelation on alumina porous supports, were employed as proton conductor in low temperature H 2 –O 2 fuel cell. A drying step on glass substrate was introduced in the fabrication procedure to reduce shrinkage and consequent corrugation. Membranes were tested with electrodes prepared according to different procedures and with two different Pt loadings, namely 0.5 and 1 mg cm −2 . Both the investigated kinds of electrodes allowed to get very promising power peaks of 550 mW cm −2 in spite of the different Pt content. The polarization curves and the electrochemical impedance spectra suggest that…
A green route to synthesize poly(lactic acid)-based macromonomers in scCO2 for biodegradable nanoparticle production
Poly(lactic acid)-based macromonomers, aimed at biomedical applications and with well-defined average chain length, are produced through catalytic ring-opening polymerization of L,L-lactide co-initiated by a co-monomer bearing a double bond. Reactions have been carried out in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) at different temperatures, ranging from 90 to 130 °C. The resulting oligomers have been characterized by different techniques (1H-NMR, 13CNMR, MALDI-TOF, ESI, GPC, FT-IR, TGA), which show that oligomers with narrower molecular weight distribution are produced at the lowest temperature. In addition, a significant reduction of the impact of the secondary reactions has been found at th…
Chitosan-phosphotungstic acid complex as membranes for low temperature H2-O2 fuel cell
Abstract Free-standing Chitosan/phosphotungstic acid polyelectrolyte membranes were prepared by an easy and fast in-situ ionotropic gelation process performed at room temperature. Scanning electron microscopy was employed to study their morphological features and their thickness as a function of the chitosan concentration. The membrane was tested as proton conductor in low temperature H 2 –O 2 fuel cell allowing to get peak power densities up to 350 mW cm −2 . Electrochemical impedance measurements allowed to estimate a polyelectrolyte conductivity of 18 mS cm −1 .
Influence of synthesis conditions on the performance of chitosan–Heteropolyacid complexes as membranes for low temperature H2–O2 fuel cell
Flat, free-standing chitosan/phosphotungstic acid (PTA) polyelectrolyte membranes were prepared by in-situ ionotropic gelation process at room temperature on porous alumina support firstly impregnated by H3PW12O40. Scanning electron microscopy revealed the formation of compact and homogeneous membranes, whose thickness resulted to be dependent on chitosan concentration and reticulation time. X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) evidenced the formation of almost amorphous membrane without appreciable concentration of not protonated NH2 groups and PTA3- ions with preserved Keggin structure. Membranes were tested as proton conductor in low temperature H2-O2 fuel…