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Self-assembly of multiwall carbon nanotubes on sulfonated poly (arylene ether ketone) as a proton exchange membrane

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Abstract

Membranes of sulfonated poly (arylene ether ketone) containing carboxyl groups (SPAEK-C) are modified by alternating deposition of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes [carboxyl-functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (C-MWCNTs) and chitosan (CS)] in order to reduce methanol crossover and maintain high proton conductivity in a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirms that C-MWCNTs and CS are assembled in the multilayers. The morphology of membranes is studied by scanning electron microscopy. The results confirm the presence of thin C-MWCNTs/CS multilayers coated on the SPAEK-C membrane. The SPAEK-C-(C-MWCNTs/CS)n membranes maintain high proton conductivity values up to 0.058 Scm−1 at 25 °C and 0.24 Scm−1 at 80 °C, which are superior to previous layer-by-layer assembled polyelectrolyte systems. Meanwhile, the methanol permeability of these modified membranes is effectively reduced. The selectivity of SPAEK-C-(C-MWCNTs/CS)n is two orders of magnitude greater than that of Nafion® 117, making these modified membranes a good alternative to be used in DMFCs. The thermal stability, water uptake, swelling ratio and proton conductivity of SPAEK-C and SPAEK-C-(C-MWCNTs/CS)n membranes are also investigated.

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Acknowledgments

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 21104022) and Jilin University Basic Research Founding (No: 450060481017).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Alan G. MacDiarmid Institute, College of Chemistry, Jilin University, Changchun, 130012, People’s Republic of China

    Wenmo Sun, Chengji Zhao & Hui Na

  2. Jilin Electric Power Research Institute, Changchun, 130021, Jilin, People’s Republic of China

    Haidan Lin

Authors
  1. Haidan Lin
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  2. Wenmo Sun
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  3. Chengji Zhao
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  4. Hui Na
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Correspondence to Chengji Zhao.

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Lin, H., Sun, W., Zhao, C. et al. Self-assembly of multiwall carbon nanotubes on sulfonated poly (arylene ether ketone) as a proton exchange membrane. J Polym Res 20, 306 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-013-0306-2

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