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Nafion reinforced with polyacrylonitrile nanofibers/zirconium-graphene oxide composite membrane for direct methanol fuel cell application

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Abstract

Electrospun polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibers decorated with ZrO2 then blended with graphene oxide nanofibers were used to enhance the fuel cell performance and the conductivity of Nafion® membrane. The modified membranes and the commercial membrane were synthesized by recast method. Nanocomposite’s membranes had higher proton conductivity and overall membrane properties increased, and fuel cell efficiency than commercial Nafion® and similar work published in the literature®. The Nafion®-PAN/ZrO2-GO nanofiber membrane had a lower methanol permeability and a proton conductivity of 5.46 × 10–8 cm2/s and 0.46 mS/cm, respectively, with a fuel cell performance of 75.9 mWcm−2 at a current density of 250 mAcm−2. The composite membrane used in this study has potential for use in fuel cells.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their gratitude for the financial assistance they have received from the University of South Africa (AQIP), National Research Foundation (NRF), the Centre for Nanomaterials Science Research and the University of Johannesburg.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Rudzani Sigwadi & Touhami Mokrani

  2. Department of Chemical Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Phumlani Fortune Msomi

  3. Centre for Nanomaterials Science Research, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Phumlani Fortune Msomi

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  1. Rudzani Sigwadi
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  2. Touhami Mokrani
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  3. Phumlani Fortune Msomi
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Correspondence to Rudzani Sigwadi.

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Sigwadi, R., Mokrani, T. & Msomi, P.F. Nafion reinforced with polyacrylonitrile nanofibers/zirconium-graphene oxide composite membrane for direct methanol fuel cell application. J Polym Res 29, 18 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10965-021-02854-x

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