Decreasing Membrane Thickness Research Articles

Vanadium Redox Flow Batteries Using meta-Polybenzimidazole-Based Membranes of Different Thicknesses.

15, 25, and 35 μm thick meta-polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes are doped with H2SO4 and tested in a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). Their performances are compared with those of Nafion membranes. Immersed in 2 M H2SO4, PBI absorbs about 2 mol of H2SO4 per mole of repeat unit. This results in low conductivity and low voltage efficiency (VE). In ex-situ tests, meta-PBI shows a negligible crossover of V3+ and V4+ ions, much lower than that of Nafion. This is due to electrostatic repulsive forces between vanadium cations and positively charged protonated PBI backbones, and the molecular sieving effect of PBI's nanosized pores. It turns out that charge efficiency (CE) of VRFBs using meta-PBI-based membranes is unaffected by or slightly increases with decreasing membrane thickness. Thick meta-PBI membranes require about 100 mV larger potentials to achieve the same charging current as thin meta-PBI membranes. This additional potential may increase side reactions or enable more vanadium ions to overcome the electrostatic energy barrier and to enter the membrane. On this basis, H2SO4-doped meta-PBI membranes should be thin to achieve high VE and CE. The energy efficiency of 15 μm thick PBI reaches 92%, exceeding that of Nafion 212 and 117 (N212 and N117) at 40 mA cm-2.

Localization of cytochrome P450 activity in the zebrafish embryo and larva

Microplastic contamination poses a great threat to the health of aquatic species, which may affect their reproduction and result in ecological consequences. There is a need to further elucidate the potential impact microplastics can impose on aquatic species. In this study, the effects of exposure to polystyrene microplastics on reproductive organs, and the underlying response mechanisms, were investigated using zebrafish Danio rerio. After 21 days of continuous waterborne exposure, no significant difference was observed at the lower concentration of 10 μg/L. At concentrations above 100 μg/L, significantly enhanced reactive oxygen species (ROS) level was found in both male and female liver and gonads. At the concentration of 1000 μg/L, significantly increased apoptosis levels were observed in male testes, triggering increased expression of p53-mediated apoptotic pathways; histological alteration in the form of a significant decrease in testis basement membrane thickness was also observed. This study demonstrated that exposure to microplastics can induce molecular responses and histological alterations in fish gonads, implying potential adverse impact on fish reproductive organs. This work provided new insights on the reproductive damage microplastics can cause in fish and have implications in fields of freshwater ecology and environmental toxicology.

Zeolite Loaded Alginate Membrane for CO<sub>2</sub> and CH<sub>4</sub> Separation

Natural zeolite-incorporated alginate membranes were subjected for the gas separation of CO2 and CH4. High concentration of CO2 as biogas product can decrease the combution heat. Therefore, the membrane permeability and selectivity of CO2 and CH4 were investigated. The zeolite-incorporated alginate membranes were prepared using solution technique. The effects of zeolite on the performance and the thickness of membranes for gas separation were analyzed. The membranes were characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Brunaur Emmet Teller (BET) and Barret Joyner Hallenda (BJH).The result of permeability and selectivity show that membrane can flow CO2 and resist CH4. CO2 permeability increased simultaneously with an increase of zeolite content in the polymer matrix. The thickness of membrane influenced the flux of CO2 gas. CO2 Permeability increased simultaneously with a decrease of membrane thickness. The membrane containing rasio of mass alginate:zeolite 10:2 and thickness of 0.1267 mm shows the best permeability. According BJH result, pore diameter of membrane is 3.64 Å, while kinetic diameter of CO2 is 3.30Å and kinetic diameter of CH4 is 3.80Å. This was explained performance of membrane was molecular sieving.

Spray-painted graphene oxide membrane fuel cells

Graphene oxide (GO) is potentially a useful electrolyte material for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells due to its high strength, excellent hydrogen gas barrier properties, hydrophilicity, and proton conducting acidic functional groups. Here, GO paper is prepared from aqueous dispersion by vacuum-filtration, and the hydrogen permeability (2 × 10−2 barrer) is measured to be 3 orders of magnitude lower than Nafion (30 barrer) at 30°C. The in-plane and through-plane conductivities are measured to be 49.9 and 0.3mScm−1, respectively. This significant anisotropy is attributed to the lamellar structure of GO, and the physical anisotropy between the thickness and lateral size of the GO nanoplatelets. Interestingly, the in-plane conductivity of GO is comparable to the through-plane conductivity of Nafion. GO membrane fuel cells (GOMFCs) are fabricated. To compensate for the low in-plane conductivity of GO, whilst taking advantage of the excellent hydrogen gas barrier properties, extremely thin electrode-supported GOMFCs are prepared by spray painting GO directly onto the electrocatalyst layer. The effect of membrane thickness on cell performance is investigated. Decreasing membrane thickness by spray painting improves the power density from 3.7mWcm−2 for a 50μm-thick membrane-supported GOMFC, to 79mWcm−2 for a 3µm-thick, spray-painted membrane, electrode-supported GOMFC.

Experimental study on the membrane electrode assembly of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell: effects of microporous layer, membrane thickness and gas diffusion layer hydrophobic treatment

In this study, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is employed to analyze the influence of microporous layer (MPL), membrane thickness and gas diffusion layer (GDL) hydrophobic treatment in the performance of a proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell. Results show that adding a MPL increases cell performance at low to medium current densities. Because lower ohmic losses are observed when applying a MPL, such improvement is attributed to a better hydration state of the membrane. The MPL creates a pressure barrier for water produced at the cathode, forcing it to travel to the anode side, therefore increasing the water content in the membrane. However, at high currents, this same phenomenon seems to have intensified liquid water flooding in the anode gas channels, increasing mass transfer losses and reducing the cell performance. Decreasing membrane thickness results into considerably higher performances, due to a decrease in ohmic resistance. Moreover, at low air humidity operation, a rapid recovery from dehydration is observed when a thinner membrane is employed. The GDL hydrophobic treatment significantly improves the cell performance. Untreated GDLs appear to act as water-traps that not only hamper reactants transport to the reactive sites but also impede the proper humidification of the cell. From the different designs tested, the highest maximum power density is obtained from that containing a MPL, a thinner membrane and treated GDLs.

Quantitative Evaluation of Chemical Degradation of Polymer Electrolyte Membrane for Fuel Cells and the Method of Lifetime Prediction

A fuel cell vehicle (FCV) is a vehicle that utilizes fuel cells as its power source. Development of fuel cells for FCV is always aimed at a more compactsize by means of higher power density and longer driving range through enhanced energy efficiency. Fuel cells also require endurance reliability comparable to internal combustion engines, and cost reductions will be required to encourage widespread consumer use. The power generating part of a fuel cell is called the membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which consists of a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) and electrodes with a catalyst. The performance of the fuel cell is mainly determined by the activity of the catalyst on each electrode and by the proton conductivity of the PEM. Because the performance, energy efficiency, durability, and cost of fuel cells are all related and involve trade-offs, optimization of the PEM design cannot be readily achieved. A particular issue that has faced optimization of the PEM design is the amount of time it takes to estimate PEM durability. The only method available has been to test it over a long period of time, and this is why FCV has had such an extended development period. In order to optimize the PEM design in less time, a new method capable of estimating durability without durability testing must be developed. To this aim, we first made it possible to quantitatively evaluate the rate of chemical degradation of PEM to estimate durability and predict its lifetime. Next, we developed a mathematical formula for the rate of chemical degradation of the PEM to predict its service life. Two possible reaction mechanisms have been proposed as the chemical degradation of the perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membrane. One is the scission of the main chains of the polymer and the other is an unzipping reaction in which the end groups of the main chains progressively degrade. In order to quantitatively estimate the rate of chemical degradation of the PFSA membrane, we numerically modelized these two reaction mechanisms. When a scission of the main chain occurs, the location of the split becomes two new end groups, which suggests that the number of points of origin for an unzipping reaction increases exponentially. The fluoride release behavior was calculated based on this model. As a result, we confirmed that the experimental fluoride release data can be explained by these two reaction mechanisms of chemical degradation. In order to describe the fluoride release quantity F as a function of duration time t, exponential function Eq. (1) was formulated to closely match the experimental results. F(t) = a [exp(b･t) - 1] (1) One of the factors that influence the chemical degradation rate of the PEM is contamination by metal ions. Adding a radical quencher is a well-known method to assure durability of the PEM by mitigating chemical degradation. In order to estimate the acceleration of PEM degradation caused by metal ion contamination or the mitigation effects offered by a radical quencher, durability testing was carried out using different levels of metal ion contamination or radical quencher additives. The results of these tests show that fluoride release behavior can be represented by Eq. (1) by fixing coefficient b and varying only coefficient a. Coefficient ais therefore defined as the accelerating factor of chemical degradation. The accelerating factor can be obtained by making Eq. (1) fit the experimental fluoride release data, and it can be used as an indicator of the severity of chemical degradation. Introducing the concept of accelerating factor to represent the fluoride release rate made it possible to deal quantitatively with the effect of factors that accelerate or mitigate chemical degradation. Moreover, the size of acceleration or mitigation effect caused by multiple factors can be indicated with a single variable. We confirmed changes in accelerating factor during FCV operation with bench testing, which demonstrated the driving modes of an actual vehicle using a fuel cell stack with the same specifications as stacks installed in actual vehicles. The fluoride release rate was calculated from the accelerating factor envisioning actual FCV operation. Fluoride release behavior can be converted into membrane thickness loss. In this way, decrease in membrane thickness during FCV operation and the lifetime of the PEM can be predicted using calculations.

Water transport through short side chain perfluorosulfonic acid ionomer membranes

Liquid and water vapour transport through short side chain (SSC) perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomer membranes are measured as a function of membrane thickness (24–96µm) and temperature (25–85°C). Three types of water permeation techniques are used in this work and are based on applied chemical potential gradients across a membrane. These are: liquid-liquid permeation (LLP) in which both sides of membrane are in contact with liquid water; liquid-vapour permeation (LVP) where one side of the membrane is exposed to liquid and the other is exposed to vapour; and vapour-vapour permeation (VVP) where both sides of the membrane are exposed to water vapour. Within the SSC series, the increase in permeance for VVP upon decreasing membrane thickness is not as significant as compared to LLP due to the larger interfacial water transport resistance (Rinterfacial) observed for membranes exposed to vapour. The study of LVP and VVP transport resistances indicates that Rinterfacial plays dominate role in determining the overall membrane resistance, even for a thick SSC membrane. It is speculated that Rinterfacial is the result of water depletion layer caused by membrane dehydration at the membrane interface. The LVP interfacial resistance for SSC membranes is similar to that found for long side chain PFSA ionomer membranes such as, Nafion®, even though SSC membranes possess significant lower internal LVP permeation resistance. Water permeance determined by LLP, LVP and VVP measurements are all found to increase with temperature, due to the increased water volume fraction (Xv) and an increase in the effective hydrophilic pore size. The activation energy of LLP, LVP and VVP water permeation are calculated to be 16.3, 40.2 and 43.1kJmol−1 respectively, which is lower than that of Nafion under similar conditions.

Durable Membrane Electrode Assemblies for Proton Exchange Membrane Electrolyzer Systems Operating at High Current Densities

High efficiencies, wide operation range and rapid response time have motivated the recent interest in proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolysis for hydrogen generation with surplus electricity. However, degradation at high current densities and the associated mechanism has not been thoroughly explored so far. In this work, membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) from different suppliers are aged in a commercial PEM electrolyzer (2.5Nm3H2h­−1), operating up to 4Acm­−2 for more than 750h. In all cases, the cell voltage (Ecell) decreases during the testing period. Interestingly, the cells with Ir-black anodes exhibit the highest performance with the lowest precious metal loading (1mgcm−2). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) shows a progressive decrease in the specific exchange current, while the ohmic resistance decreases when doubling the nominal current density. This effect translates into an enhancement of cell efficiency at high current densities. However, Ir concurrently leaches out and diffuses into the membrane. No decrease in membrane thickness is observed at the end of the tests. High current densities do not lead to lowering the performance of the PEM electrolyzer over time, although MEA components degrade, in particular the anode.

Numerical Modeling the Effect of Operating Variables on Faraday Efficiency in PEM Electrolyzer

In PEM water electrolysis, extensive mixing of the product gases due to gas crossover could produce explosive conditions and also at low current densities this leads to efficiency losses due to reduced Faraday efficiency. In this study, the effect of different temperatures, pressures and membrane thicknesses on the performance of a PEM electrolyzer have been carried out. The effect of membrane thickness on voltage was not apparent at lower current density but it increases from current density of 0.2A/cm2. It was also observed that temperature has no effect on the Faraday efficiency. On the other hand, Faraday efficiency increases as the current density increase. Also Faraday efficiency decreases with decrease in membrane thickness At 0.2 A/cm2 current density and membrane thickness of 150μm.

Printing low-voltage dielectric elastomer actuators

We demonstrate the fabrication of fully printed thin dielectric elastomer actuators (DEAs), reducing the operation voltage below 300 V while keeping good actuation strain. DEAs are soft actuators capable of strains greater than 100% and response times below 1 ms, but they require driving voltage in the kV range, limiting the possible applications. One way to reduce the driving voltage of DEAs is to decrease the dielectric membrane thickness, which is typically in the 20–100 μm range, as reliable fabrication becomes challenging below this thickness. We report here the use of pad-printing to produce μm thick silicone membranes, on which we pad-print μm thick compliant electrodes to create DEAs. We achieve a lateral actuation strain of 7.5% at only 245 V on a 3 μm thick pad-printed membrane. This corresponds to a ratio of 125%/kV2, by far the highest reported value for DEAs. To quantify the increasing stiffening impact of the electrodes on DEA performance as the membrane thickness decreases, we compare two circular actuators, one with 3 μm- and one with 30 μm-thick membranes. Our experimental measurements show that the strain uniformity of the 3 μm-DEA is indeed affected by the mechanical impact of the electrodes. We developed a simple DEA model that includes realistic electrodes of finite stiffness, rather than assuming zero stiffness electrodes as is commonly done. The simulation results confirm that the stiffening impact of the electrodes is an important parameter that should not be neglected in the design of thin-DEAs. This work presents a practical approach towards low-voltage DEAs, a critical step for the development of real world applications.

Ultrathin carbon molecular sieve membrane for propylene/propane separation

Ultrathin (down to 300 nm), high quality carbon molecular sieve (CMS) membranes were synthesized on mesoporous γ‐alumina support by pyrolysis of defect free polymer films. The effect of membrane thickness on the micropore structure and gas transport properties of CMS membranes was studied with the feed of He/N2 and C3H6/C3H8 mixtures. Gas permeance increases with constant selectivity as the membrane thickness decreases to 520 nm. The 520‐nm CMS membrane exhibits C3H6/C3H8 mixture selectivity of ∼31 and C3H6 permeance of ∼1.0 × 10−8 mol m−2 s−1 Pa−1. Both C3H8 permeance and He/N2 selectivity increase, but the permeance of He, N2, and C3H6 and the selectivity of C3H6/C3H8 decrease with further decrease in membrane thickness from 520 to 300 nm. These results can be explained by the thickness‐dependent chain mobility of the polymer film which yields thinner final CMS membranes with reduction in pore size and possible closure of C3H6‐accessible micropores. © 2015 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 62: 491–499, 2016

Sorption, desorption and diffusion processes in membrane permeation

A majority of the anomalous permeation in the literature can be resolved if the solubility coefficient of the diffusion-solubility model is expanded into its component sorption and desorption processes.Examples of these anomalies are (a) the permeability coefficient decreases with decreasing membrane thickness, (b) the membrane׳s selectivity changes with membrane thickness, (c) the surface concentrations are time dependent, and (d) the steady-state solubility and surface concentration are less than the equilibrium values. In the three parameter model, the sorption (K1) and desorption (K2) processes are included as part of the boundary conditions of the model. The permeability coefficient (K) becomes DS/(1+2/B) where B, the thickness scaling parameter, is K2L/D. L is the membrane thickness, D is the diffusion coefficient and S is the solubility coefficient. At equilibrium, S becomes Seq. For large B, K approaches DS and the DS model is adequate. For some thin and ultrathin membranes where B is small, K approaches K1L/2 and the normalized membrane flux (K/L) becomes independent of the thickness. In these cases, permeation looks more like a sorption and desorption process. These features are well described by the DK1K2 model but are anomalous for the DS model. For small B, the selectivity is determined by the relative values of K1 which is the principal selection parameter for sorption processes. A simple method is reintroduced (first used over a half-century ago) to determine the three parameters from experimental permeability data. Experimental data are analyzed for liquid-membrane, vapor-membrane, gas-membrane and pervaporation systems. Values of D, K1 and K2 are given for these systems.

Porcine Dermis-Derived Collagen Membranes Induce Implantation Bed Vascularization Via Multinucleated Giant Cells: A Physiological Reaction?

In this study, the tissue reactions to 2 new porcine dermis-derived collagen membranes of different thickness were analyzed. The thicker material (Mucoderm) contained sporadically preexisting vessel skeletons and fatty islands. The thinner membrane (Collprotect) had a bilayered structure (porous and occlusive side) without any preexisting structures. These materials were implanted subcutaneously in mice to analyze the tissue reactions and potential transmembranous vascularization. Histological and histomorphometrical methodologies were performed at 4 time points (3, 10, 15, and 30 days). Both materials permitted stepwise connective tissue ingrowth into their central regions. In the Mucoderm matrix, newly built microvessels were found within the preexisting vessel and fatty island skeletons after 30 days. This vascularization was independent of the inflammation-related vascularization on both material surfaces. The Collprotect membrane underwent material disintegration by connective tissue strands in combination with vessels and multinucleated giant cells. The histomorphometric analyses revealed that the thickness of Mucoderm did not decrease significantly, while an initial significant decrease of membrane thickness in the case of Collprotect was found at day 15. The present results demonstrate that the 2 analyzed collagen membranes underwent a multinucleated giant cell-associated vascularization. Neither of the materials underwent transmembraneous vascularization. The microvessels were found within the preexisting vessel and fatty island skeletons. Additional long-term studies and clinical studies are necessary to determine how the observed foreign body giant cells affect tissue regeneration.

Influence of Membrane Thickness on Membrane Degradation and Platinum Agglomeration under Long-term Open Circuit Voltage Conditions

Membrane chemical degradation and platinum catalyst agglomeration under long-term open circuit voltage (OCV) conditions were investigated using three types of composite membranes with various membrane thicknesses. Hydrogen permeation increases as membrane thickness decreases, which has a significant influence on proton exchange membrane and platinum catalysts. Higher Hydrogen permeation accelerated the membrane degradation, resulting in the thinning of membrane which can be verified by fluoride emission rates (FERs). Carbon-supported platinum catalysts also experienced agglomeration under OCV conditions. The statistics of platinum size distribution demonstrated catalysts size growth, ranging from 3.83 to 6.02nm in diameter along with the increasing hydrogen crossover

The in Vivo Effect of Prophylactic Subchondral Bone Protection of Osteoarthritic Synovial Membrane in Bone-Specific Ephb4-Overexpressing Mice

Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by progressive joint destruction, including synovial membrane alteration. EphB4 and its ligand ephrin-B2 were found in vitro to positively affect OA subchondral bone and cartilage. In vivo in an experimental mouse model overexpressing bone-specific Ephb4 (TgEphB4), a protective effect was found on both the subchondral bone and cartilage during OA. We investigated in the TgEphB4 mouse model the in vivo effect on synovial membrane during OA. Knee OA was surgically induced by destabilization of the medial meniscus (DMM). Synovial membrane was evaluated using histology, histomorphometry, IHC, and real-time PCR. Compared to DMM-wild-type (WT) mice, DMM-TgEphB4 mice had a significant decrease in synovial membrane thickness, vascular endothelial growth factor, and the profibrotic markers fibrin, type 1 procollagen, type 3 collagen, connective tissue growth factor, smooth muscle actin-α, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein, and procollagen-lysine, and 2-oxoglutarate 5-dioxygenase 2. Moreover, factors known to modulate transforming growth factor-β signaling, transforming growth factor receptor 1/ALK1, phosphorylated Smad-1, and heat shock protein 90β were significantly decreased in DMM-TgEphB4 compared with DMM-WT mice. Ephb4 overexpression also exhibited a protective effect on synovial membrane thickness of aged (24-month-old) mice. Overexpression of bone-specific Ephb4 clearly demonstrated prevention of the development and/or progression of fibrosis in OA synovial membrane, reinforcing the hypothesis that protecting the subchondral bone prophylactically and during OA reduces the pathologic changes in other articular tissues.

Diagnosis of celiac disease in routine clinical practice

During 10 years there has been conducted the purposeful clinical and laboratory investigation of 1775 children aged from 6 months to 18 years. In all patients antibodies to glyadin and tissue transglutaminase have been defined. 494 (27,83 %) children with positive serological markers have been send to endoscopic investigation with subsequent morphological investigation of biopsy material. In selective sampling of children the morphologically confirmed celiac disease is occurred with the frequency 1 to 40. Morphometric indices of duodenum mucous membrane are characterized with decrease of mucous membrane thickness, height of villi, ratio of villi height to depth of crypts. As a compensation crypts depth and a number of interepithelial lymphocytes are increased. Small changes correspond to manifest form of celiac disease. Probability of morphological confirmation of celiac disease diagnosis is higher in children to 7 years old.

Numerical Investigations of Membrane Surface Effects on NACA 64<sub>3</sub>- 218 Airfoil

This paper presents two dimensional fluid structure interaction (FSI) CFD analysis on the effect of skin thickness and Reynolds number on the aerodynamic performance of NACA 643-218 airfoil. Numerical investigations were performed using FLUENT 6.3 fluid flow solver and ABAQUS 6.8-1 structural solver. Coupling of both solvers in real time mode was accomplished with the Mesh based parallel Code Coupling Interface (MpCCI 3.1). The predicted and experimental results were found to be in excellent match. Generally, the results showed that the aerodynamic lift increases while drag decreases with the decrease of membrane thickness.

SAT0560 The in Vivo Role of Bone Specific Ephb4 Receptor Overexpression in Osteoarthritic Synovial Membrane

BackgroundOsteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by progressive joint destruction including synovial membrane inflammation and abnormalities including fibrosis. Members of the Eph/ephrin family, the EphB4 receptor and its specific ligand ephrin-B2, were...

Impregnated electrospun nanofibrous membranes for water vapour transport applications

Membranes with high water vapour permeance and selectivity find many end uses including protective clothing, dehydration, and humidification. One application for water vapour transport membranes is in energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) for buildings. These devices improve building energy efficiency by transporting heat and moisture between incoming and outgoing air streams in building ventilation systems, effectively ‘recycling’ the energy used to condition the indoor air. Membranes for these devices must have high vapour permeance, and selectivity for water vapour over other gases and contaminants that may be present in the exhaust indoor air. Due to the high rates of water vapour transport required in these gas to gas devices, boundary layer and internal resistances within the membrane contribute significantly to performance. Commercially available membranes suffer from high water vapour transport resistance in the microporous substrate support layer. In this study we report the fabrication of novel impregnated electrospun nanofibrous membranes (IENM) for water vapour transport applications. Electrospun nanofibre layers are impregnated with a polyether–polyurethane solution and cured to create continuous thin impregnated fibre loaded film layers which are bound to a non-woven support layer. These membranes have high water vapour permeance and selectivity while eliminating the requirement for a microporous support layer which has high vapour transport resistance. Here we report initial studies on how controllable factors in the membrane fabrication (namely fibre loading and impregnated solution polymer solids concentration) affect structural and permeation properties of IENMs created. Membranes with adequate permeance and selectivity are demonstrated and direction for optimization is identified. We find that the nanofibre loading has a significant impact on water vapour permeability as the membrane thickness decreases. Future work will study how modifications to the geometric and structural properties of the fibres affect the membrane performance.

Development of Redox-Conducting Polymer Electrodes for Non-Gassing Electro-Osmotic Pumps: A Novel Approach

In an attempt to replace gassing metal electrodes, a new type of redox-conducting polymer electrodes for non-gassing electro-osmotic pumps is developed. The work describes the application of a redox-conducting poly(hydroquinone/benzoquinone) electrode which was synthesized by cationic polymerization of benzoquinone and containing protic ceramic frit membranes. Laboratory made electro-osmotic pump was tested with developed polymer electrodes by varying different membrane thickness, applied voltage and flow-opposing (stall) pressure. As expected, with decrease in membrane thickness, flow-rate was observed to increase and the maximum flux per unit applied voltage was ∼30.3 μL.min−1.cm−2 .V−1. The maximum stall pressure (at zero flow-rate) was ∼10.0 kPa at 3.0 V with a membrane of 1.5 mm thick; stall pressure increased with increase in applied voltage. The maximum value of thermodynamic efficiency obtained was 0.16%. The pump could be operated continuously at 1.5 V and 3.0 V with flow rates of 4.0 ± 1.0 and 14.0 ± 1.0 μL.min−1, respectively. Obtained performance results vindicate the novel attempt of developing redox-conducting polymer for applications in microfluidic devices, such as insulin pumps used for diabetes management.