Comprehensive studies on polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) doped with MWCNTs and CNFs Nano composite membranes for fuel cells applications

Abstract

This research work presents a comprehensive review and experimental studies on current trends in the development of proton exchange membrane (PEM) for fuel cell applications. The study focusses on fuel cells, types and their advantages when compared to convention energy conversion devices. Furthermore, research is essential for development of durable membrane resources/materials. Various aspects of PEM fuel cells have been reviewed to realize change in the membrane performance through characterization techniques adopted in this works. This study also focuses on gaps in already published literature which in turn limits our knowledge of characterization mechanism associated and the correlation existing between them. In addition, it needs to understand more appropriately to yield durable mechanisms. Further recent works on polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells has been critically reviewed and in this direction two case studies have been presented as a part of experimental works carried out. Further Polymer based PEMs were developed using polyvinyl alcohol as a base matrix reinforced with different nano-particles viz., Multi walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) and Carbon nano fibers (CNFs). The membranes were subjected to solubility and swelling tests and were characterized by using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, Thermo Gravimetric Analysis (TGA) for feasibility studies on their fuel cell applications.