Novel cross-linked partially fluorinated and non-fluorinated polyaromatic PBI-containing blend membranes for SO2 electrolysis

作者：Peach Retha^*; Krieg Henning M; Kruger Andries J; Rossouw Jacobus J C; Bessarabov Dmitri; Kerres Jochen

来源：International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 2016, 41(28): 11868-11883.

DOI：10.1016/j.ijhydene.2016.05.246

• Partially fluorinated blend components
• PBI blended
• H2SO4 stability
• SO2 electrolysis
• Voltage stepping

Various partially fluorinated and non-fluorinated polyaromatic and PBI blend components were covalent-ionically cross-linked to obtain proton exchange membranes that can be applied in an SO2 electrolyser. During SO2 electrolysis, SO2 and H2O are converted to H-2 and H2SO4, which implies that the membranes to be used for this process should have both a high proton conductivity and H2SO4 stability. The acid stability of the blend membranes were evaluated in an 80 wt% H2SO4 environment for 120 h at 80 and 95 degrees C respectively. From the characterization results obtained by monitoring weight and thickness change, IEC, SEM-EDX and TGA signal's before and after treatment, it was determined that the novel cross-linked blend membranes, containing only partially fluorinated polymer components, showed exceptional stability. The cross-linked partially fluorinated polyaromatic PBI blended membrane (SFS001-F6PBI-BrPAE) and Nafion 115 were selected for electro-chemical evaluation by obtaining polarization curves at 80 and 95 degrees C. The SFS001-F6PBI-BrPAE performed the best at operation temperature of 95 degrees C reaching a current density of 0.63 A cm(-2) in comparison to the 0.42 A cm(-2) obtained for Naflon (R) 115 at 1.0 V. Durability of the membranes within the electrolyser were measured by means of voltage stepping and subsequent characterization using SEM-EDX, TEM and TGA which confirmed the minimal degradation observed for the 250 cycles completed.

• 出版日期2016-7-27
• 单位西北大学