The proton conductivity and mechanical properties of Nafion®/ ZrP nanocomposite membrane

R Sigwadi; M S Dhlamini; T Mokrani; F Ṋemavhola; P F Nonjola; P F Msomi

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02240

The proton conductivity and mechanical properties of Nafion®/ ZrP nanocomposite membrane

Heliyon. 2019 Aug 27;5(8):e02240. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2019.e02240. eCollection 2019 Aug.

Authors

R Sigwadi¹, M S Dhlamini², T Mokrani¹, F Ṋemavhola³, P F Nonjola⁴, P F Msomi⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Florida, 1710, South Africa.
² Department of Physics, University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Florida, 1710, South Africa.
³ Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of South Africa, Private Bag X6, Florida, 1710, South Africa.
⁴ CSIR (Energy Centre), PO BOX 395, Pretoria, 0001, South Africa.
⁵ Department of Applied Chemistry, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg, South Africa.

Abstract

Zirconium phosphates (ZrP) were incorporated into Nafion® 117 membrane by impregnating method to obtain a reduced methanol permeation and improved proton conductivity for fuel cell application. The mechanical properties and water uptake of Nafion® membrane incorporated with zirconium phosphates nanoparticles was more improvement when compared to the commercial Nafion® 117, due to the presence of phosphoric acid within the nanoparticles. The effect of ZrP nano filler on the membrane structural morphology and thermal properties were investigated by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The improved ion conductivity and decreased methanol permeability on the nanocomposite membranes showed a great potential for fuel cell applications. The nanocomposite membrane with high tensile strength was obtained due to the well dispersed zirconium phosphates within the Nafion® matrix.

Keywords: Coatings; Computational materials science; Degradation; Impregnating; Materials application; Materials class; Materials science; Metals; Methanol permeability; Nanomaterials; Nanotechnology; Proton conductivity; Water uptake; Zirconium phosphates.