Enhanced Proton Conductivity as Bio-Based Electrolyte Membranes in Fuel Cell Application: The Role of Sulfonated Graphitic Carbon Nitride
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37934/kijbb.1.1.113Keywords:
Sodium Alginate, Sulfonated Graphitic Carbon Nitride, Biocomposite membrane, DMFCAbstract
Nafion is a commercial polymer membrane commonly used in direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) systems, despite its major limitations such as high fuel crossover and high manufacture cost. The production of sodium alginate (SA) blended membrane with modification by graphitic carbon nitride (gCN) and sulfonated graphitic carbon nitride (S-gCN) as an inorganic filler is one of several current efforts to discover an alternative membrane. In this study, SA/S-gCN and SA/gCN biocomposite membranes were prepared using solution casting method and dried at certain temperature. The SA/S-gCN and SA/gCN biocomposite membranes outperform the pure SA membrane based on water uptake, swelling ratio, ion exchange capacity, and proton conductivity results. The distinct features of SA and S-gCN filler create good intercalation, thus producing new materials with excellent performance. The maximum proton conductivity reported in this study is 8.67 × 10-3 S cm-1, which was obtained at room temperature using SA/S-gCN membrane. The interaction of biomembrane composite was investigated via water uptake and swelling ratio studies. Results showed that the designed SA/S-gCN and SA/gCN have a low water uptake and swelling ratio compared to that of pure SA membrane (84% water uptake and 72% swelling ratio). As a result, the membrane developed in this study shows significant potential as an alternative membrane for future usage in DMFC applications.
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