the nafion 117 membrane was doped with sio2 particles by sol-gel reaction. the reaction conditions to minimize leaching were investigated by using full factorial design of experiment. the results from the full factorial analysis indicated that the lowest amount of leaching takes place at 60oc without addition of acid and swelling of membranes prior to the reaction. the membranes, prepared at op...

A novel Nafion®-based nanocomposite membrane was synthesized to be applied as direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were coated with a layer of silica and then reacted by chlorosulfonic acid to produce sulfonate-functionalized silicon dioxide coated carbon nanotubes (CNT@SiO2-SO3H). The functionalized CNTs were then introduced to Nafion®, and subsequently, methanol permeab...

An ultrathin poly(tetrafluoroethylene) (PTFE)-reinforced multilayer self-humidifying composite membrane (20 microm, thick) is developed. The membrane is composed of Nafion-impregnated porous PTFE composite as the central layer, and SiO2 supported nanosized Pt particles (Pt-SiO2) imbedded into the Nafion as the two side layers. The proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell employing the self-humi...

This paper presents the results of mechanical strength of wet and dry zirconia/ Nafion® nano-composite membrane. The tensile tests were conducted to determine elastic modulus and stiffness of dry and wet pristine Nafion® membrane and modified Nafion® membrane. The composite membranes were prepared by recast method of different synthesized zirconium oxide with the zirconia content of 10% by weig...

Introduction of nanoparticles in membranes allows a significant enhancement their performance energy production, water treatment and other applications. However, the effect nanoparticles’ surface functionalization mechanism impact on membrane properties remain poorly studied. In this paper, we examine Nafion-based its modifications, each containing 3 wt% SiO2. The by propyl, 3-aminopropyl 3,3,3...

In this work, we prepared the nafion/montmorillonite/heteropolyacid nanocomposite membranes for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The analyses such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were conducted to characterize the filler dispersion and membrane structure in prepared nanocomposite membranes. XRD patterns of nafion-CsPW-MMT ...

The influence of the as-grown zinc oxide nanorods (ZnO NRs) on the fabricated electrochemical sensor for in vitro glucose monitoring were investigated. A direct growth of ZnO NRs was performed on the Si/SiO2/Au electrode, using hydrothermal and sol-gel techniques at low temperatures. The structure, consisting of a Si/SiO2/Au/GOx/Nafion membrane, was considered as a baseline, and it was tested u...

Proton exchange membranes remain a crucial material and key challenge to fuel cell science technology. In this work, new Nafion are prepared by casting method using aryl- or azaheteroaromatic bisphosphonate compounds as dopants. The incorporation of the dopant, considered at 1 wt% loading after previous selection, produces enhanced proton conductivity properties in membranes, different temperat...

the microphase separation of hydrated perfluorinated sulfonic acid membrane nafion was investigated using dissipative particle dynamics (dpd). the nafion as a polymer was modelled by connecting coarse grained beads which corresponds to the hydrophobic backbone of polytetrafluoroethylene and perfluorinated side chains terminated by hydrophilic end particles of sulfonic acid groups [1, 2]. each f...

The use of thinner membranes in polymer electrolyte water electrolysis increases the likelihood forming an explosive H 2 /O mixture anode stream. Doping Pt nanoparticles into a Nafion membrane as recombination catalyst effectively lowers hydrogen crossover. Here, we propose additional co-doping cerium-zirconium oxide radical scavenger to mitigate degradation. Our results show over 4-fold reduct...