Fabrication of SPAEK–cerium zirconium oxide nanotube composite membrane with outstanding performance and durability for vanadium redox flow batteries. Issue 41 (10th October 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hossain, Syed Imdadul; Aziz, Md. Abdul; Han, Dabin; Selvam, Parasuraman; Shanmugam, Sangaraju
• Is Part Of: Journal of materials chemistry. Volume 6:Issue 41(2018)
• Page Start: 20205
• Page End: 20213
• Publication Date: 2018-10-10
• Subjects: Materials -- Research -- Periodicals; Chemistry, Analytic -- Periodicals; Environmental sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 543.0284
• DOI: 10.1039/c8ta08349e
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2050-7488

Abstract

Abstract : Ce2 Zr2 O7 nanotube in SPAEK block copolymer enhance ion selectivity and VRFB performance. The self-discharge time of SPAEK/Ce2 Zr2 O7 membrane was higher than pristine SPAEK and NRE-212 membrane. Abstract : Herein, an alternative sulfonated poly(arylene ether ketone) (SPAEK)–cerium zirconium oxide nanotube (Ce2 Zr2 O7 NT) composite (SPAEK/Ce2 Zr2 O7 ) membrane has been proposed as a potential polymer electrolyte membrane for all vanadium redox flow batteries (VRFBs) performance. The as-prepared composite membrane showed higher ion selectivity and reduced vanadium ion crossover than the pristine SPAEK and NRE-212 (Nafion-212) membranes in VRFB operation. The vanadium ion permeability rate of SPAEK/Ce2 Zr2 O7 (2%) composite membrane was found to be 27-fold and 12-fold lower than that of commercial NRE-212 and pristine SPAEK membranes, respectively. VRFBs operated with SPAEK/Ce2 Zr2 O7 (441 h) were shown to have a lower self-discharge rate than pristine SPAEK (172 h) and NRE-212 (42 h) membranes, respectively. Finally, an electrochemical test of VRFB exhibited high retention capacity after 100 cycles for SPAEK/Ce2 Zr2 O7 membrane as compared to NRE-212 and pristine SPAEK, while the coulombic efficiency (99.42%) at 40 mA cm −2 . The structure and morphology of Ce2 Zr2 O7 NT and the composite membrane were investigated by means of XRD, SEM, and TEM, and a consistent chemical structure of SPAEK/Ce2 Zr2 O7 (2%) composite membrane before and after the chemical stability test was confirmed using 1 H NMR. The composite with 2% filler exhibits improved thermal, mechanical, oxidative, and chemical stability with superior ion selectivity. Also, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of SPAEK/Ce2 Zr2 O7 (2%) composite membrane reveals the existence of a vanadium peak after 100 VRFB cycles.