Sulfonated Poly Ether Sulfone Membrane Reinforced with Bismuth-Based Organic and Inorganic Additives for Fuel Cells

Anie Shejoe Justin Jose Sheela; Siva Moorthy; Berlina Maria Mahimai; Karthikeyan Sekar; Dinakaran Kannaiyan; Paradesi Deivanayagam

doi:10.1021/acsomega.3c03143

Sulfonated Poly Ether Sulfone Membrane Reinforced with Bismuth-Based Organic and Inorganic Additives for Fuel Cells

ACS Omega. 2023 Jul 22;8(30):27510-27518. doi: 10.1021/acsomega.3c03143. eCollection 2023 Aug 1.

Authors

Anie Shejoe Justin Jose Sheela¹, Siva Moorthy², Berlina Maria Mahimai¹, Karthikeyan Sekar¹, Dinakaran Kannaiyan³, Paradesi Deivanayagam¹

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chengalpattu District, Kattankulathur 603203, Tamilnadu, India.
² Department of Physics and Nanotechnology, Faculty of Engineering and Technology, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Chengalpattu District, Kattankulathur 603203, Tamilnadu, India.
³ Department of Chemistry, Thiruvalluvar University, Vellore 632115, Tamilnadu, India.

Abstract

This research work focuses on developing a robust polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) with high proton efficiency toward proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this study, poly ether sulfone (PES) was sulfonated by chlorosulfonic acid to yield sulfonated poly ether sulfone (SPES) followed by incorporation with bismuth-based additives such as bismuth trimesic acid (BiTMA) and bismuth molybdenum oxide (Bi₂MoO₆). The composite membrane was thoroughly investigated for its structural and physicochemical properties such as FT-IR, SEM, TGA, contact angle, water uptake, oxidative stability, ion-exchange capacity, and swelling ratio. Incorporation of additives into the polymer was confirmed by XPS and XRD analysis. The proton conductance of the pristine SPES is 4.19 × 10^-3 S cm^-1, whereas that of the composite membrane SPES/BiTMA-10 is 10 × 10^-3 S cm^-1 and that of SPES/Bi₂MoO₆-15 is 7.314 × 10^-3 S cm^-1; both the composite membranes exhibit higher proton conductivity than the pristine SPES membrane. The physicochemical characteristics and impedance measurements of the electrolyte reported can be viable to the PEM membrane.