Abstract
Anion exchange membranes were synthesized from different compositions of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC), with constant content of divinyl benzene (DVB) by radical polymerization using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) on non-woven polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. Polymerized membranes were then quaternized by soaking in trimethylamine (TMA), triethylamine (TEA), tripropylamine (TPA), and 1,4-diazabicyclo [2.2.2] octane (DABCO). Characteristics of membranes were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, water uptake, ion exchange capacity, ion conductivity, thermal, and alkaline stability. The results revealed that membranes quaternized by TPA and DABCO showed high affinity when GMA content was 15 wt% and 75 wt%, respectively. IEC and ion conductivity of membranes quaternized by TPA were 1.34 meq·g−1 and 0.022 S·cm−1 (at 60 °C), respectively. IEC and ion conductivity of membranes were quaternized by DABCO were 1.34 meq·g−1 and 0.021 S·cm−1 (at 60 °C), respectively. The results indicate that the membrane containing GMA 15 wt% quaternized by TPA showed the highest thermal stability among membranes and exhibited high ion conductivity compared to existing researches using GMA, VBC, and DVB monomers.
Highlights
Membrane technology has been actively developed and used in a wide range of applications in fuel cells, water treatment, and biotechnology [1,2,3]
There are several types of fuel cells, but anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) provide advantages compared to other fuel cells
It was discovered that monomers (GMA, divinyl benzene (DVB), and vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC)) were successfully synthesized and amine functional groups were well quaternized on the non-woven polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate
Summary
Membrane technology has been actively developed and used in a wide range of applications in fuel cells, water treatment, and biotechnology [1,2,3]. The fuel cells are the most important among those applications because they are effective devices for alleviating carbon dioxide emission from combustion such as cars and power plants. AEMFCs use anion exchange membranes as separator, which transport hydroxide from cathode side to anode side, provide potassium hydroxide as electrolyte, and convert hydrogen directly to electrical current.
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