Affiliation:
1. School of Chemical Engineering, Yeungnam University, Gyeongsan 38541, Republic of Korea
2. Department of Microbiology, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, Punjab, India
Abstract
Developing a hybrid composite polymer membrane with desired functional and intrinsic properties has gained significant consideration in the fabrication of proton exchange membranes for microbial fuel cell applications. Among the different polymers, a naturally derived cellulose biopolymer has excellent benefits over synthetic polymers derived from petrochemical byproducts. However, the inferior physicochemical, thermal, and mechanical properties of biopolymers limit their benefits. In this study, we developed a new hybrid polymer composite of a semi-synthetic cellulose acetate (CA) polymer derivate incorporated with inorganic silica (SiO2) nanoparticles, with or without a sulfonation (–SO3H) functional group (sSiO2). The excellent composite membrane formation was further improved by adding a plasticizer (glycerol (G)) and optimized by varying the SiO2 concentration in the polymer membrane matrix. The composite membrane’s effectively improved physicochemical properties (water uptake, swelling ratio, proton conductivity, and ion exchange capacity) were identified because of the intramolecular bonding between the cellulose acetate, SiO2, and plasticizer. The proton (H+) transfer properties were exhibited in the composite membrane by incorporating sSiO2. The composite CAG–2% sSiO2 membrane exhibited a higher proton conductivity (6.4 mS/cm) than the pristine CA membrane. The homogeneous incorporation of SiO2 inorganic additives in the polymer matrix provided excellent mechanical properties. Due to the enhancement of the physicochemical, thermal, and mechanical properties, CAG–sSiO2 can effectively be considered an eco-friendly, low-cost, and efficient proton exchange membrane for enhancing MFC performance.
Funder
National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grant funded by the Korean government
Korean Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy
Korea Basic Science Institute (National Research Facilities and Equipment Center) grant funded by the Ministry of Education
Subject
Filtration and Separation,Chemical Engineering (miscellaneous),Process Chemistry and Technology
Cited by
3 articles.
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