Irradiated PVdF-HFP-montmorillonite composite membranes for the application of direct ethanolfuel cells

Abstract

Montmorillonite supported poly vinylidene fluoride–hexa fluoro propylene composite membranes have been functionalized by an irradiation technique for the application of direct ethanol fuel cells. Structural characterizations of the fabricated membranes are examined by infrared and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses. The montmorillonite particles reduce porosity and stimulate rough nature to the PVdF-HFP membrane. Thermal stability of the irradiated membranes gets increased by the restricted polymeric segmental motion given via the montmorillonite particles. The ion exchange capacity values purely depend on the grafting degree values whereas water uptake values are influenced by the grafting degree as well as the concentration of montmorillonite particles. Irrespective of the grafting degree values, the adsorbed water molecules dissociate sulfonic acid units in a greater extent and favor ionic conductivity values. Tortuous path ways generated by the montmorillonite particles distort the molecular permeation which in turn results in the lower fuel cross over. By the synergistic combination of irradiation and nanocomposite techniques, demerits of the aforementioned individual techniques have been effectively tackled which in turn results in the extended direct ethanol fuel cell efficiencies of the fabricated fuel cell membranes and emerges its large scale applications.