Abstract
The direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC) is a low-temperature fuel cell that requires the development of affordable price and efficient proton exchange membranes for commercial purposes. In this context, super-acidic sulfated zirconia (SO4ZrO2) was embedded into a cheap and environmentally friendly binary polymer blend, developed from poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and iota carrageenan (IC). The percentage of SO4ZrO2 ranged between 1 and 7.5 wt.% in the polymeric matrix. The study findings revealed that the composite membranes’ physicochemical features improved by adding increasing amounts of SO4ZrO2. In addition, there was a decrease in the permeability and swelling ratio of the borohydride membranes as the SO4ZrO2 weight% increased. Interestingly, the power density increased to 76 mW cm−2 at 150 mA cm−2, with 7.5 wt.% SO4ZrO2, which is very close to that of Nafion117 (91 mW cm−2). This apparent selectivity, combined with the low cost of the eco-friendly fabricated membranes, points out that DBFC has promising future applications.
Highlights
One of the most important current global challenges is finding alternative solutions to conventional energy sources such as petroleum [1]
In the region of 1200–900 cm−1, the SO24− group IR bands were observed [49] with peaks at 1217, 1128, and 1016 cm−1, which are characteristic of S–O
The bands around 3250 cm−1 are due to the hydroxyl groups, where H-bonding has a large influence on these bands in poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and iota carrageenan (IC)
Summary
One of the most important current global challenges is finding alternative solutions to conventional energy sources such as petroleum [1]. Fuel cells (FCs) have been considered as sustainable energy sources, making them an attractive and alternative category to finite reserves [2–4]. They can directly convert chemical energy into electrical energy [5–9]. One of the different types of FCs that have been developed so far is the direct borohydride fuel cell (DBFC). It has a high-power density (HPD) at relatively low operating temperatures, which makes it a promising power system for portable applications [10,11]. Liquid hydrogen peroxide (H2 O2 ) is preferred as an oxidant due to its faster reduction
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