Blue membranes: Sulfonated copper(II) phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acid based composite membranes for DMFC and low relative humidity PEMFC

N. Nambi Krishnan, Dirk Henkensmeier, Young Hee Park, Jong Hyun Jang, Taehoon Kwon, Chong Min Koo, Hyoung Juhn Kim, Jonghee Han, Suk Woo Nam

    Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

    19 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) consisting of copper(II)phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt (CuPCSA) and disulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SES0005) are prepared. The TEM analysis results prove the incorporation of CuPCSA as nanoparticles into the composite membranes. Catalytic activity of CuPCSA towards peroxide degradation is shown by CV. Addition of CuPCSA increases the dimensional stability in contact with water (18% vs. 43% linear swelling for pristine SES0005). Addition of 10wt% CuPCSA (SES0005-IM10) increases the proton conductivity four fold to 16.8mScm-1 at 120°C and 50% relative humidity (rh). Activation energy decreases with CuPCSA content, reducing the conductivity's temperature dependence. Membranes were tested in low and medium temperature PEM fuel cells at 65 and 120°C, respectively, at 50% rh. In the LT-PEMFC, 40μm thick SES0005-IM10 and Nafion 212 based MEAs exhibited current densities of 470 and 454mAcm-2 at 0.7V, respectively. In the MT-PEMFC, SES0005-IM10 based MEAs demonstrated a current density of 405mAcm-2 at 0.5V, 2.4 folds more than pristine membrane based MEAs. In the DMFC, SES0005-IM10 enabled a peak power density of 153mWcm-2 at 70°C and 1M methanol feed, 20% higher than Nafion 212, 38% higher than mPES60.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)1-10
    Number of pages10
    JournalJournal of Membrane Science
    Volume502
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2016 Mar 15

    Bibliographical note

    Funding Information:
    This work was supported by the Korea-Denmark green technology cooperative research program and by Korean Government through the New & Renewable Energy Core Technology Program of the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) funded by MOTIE (No. 20133030011320 ).

    Keywords

    • Composite membrane
    • Copper(II)phthalocyanine tetrasulfonic acid tetrasodium salt
    • DMFC
    • Hydrocarbon membrane
    • PEMFC

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Biochemistry
    • General Materials Science
    • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
    • Filtration and Separation

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