Issue 45, 2018

Polybenzimidazole/Nafion hybrid membrane with improved chemical stability for vanadium redox flow battery application

Abstract

In order to increase the chemical stability of polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane against the highly oxidizing environment of a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB), PBI/Nafion hybrid membrane was developed by spray coating a Nafion ionomer onto one surface of the PBI membrane. The acid–base interaction between the sulfonic acid of the Nafion and the benzimidazole of the PBI created a stable interfacial adhesion between the Nafion layer and the PBI layer. The hybrid membrane showed an area resistance of 0.269 Ω cm2 and a very low vanadium permeability of 1.95 × 10−9 cm2 min−1. The Nafion layer protected the PBI from chemical degradation under accelerated oxidizing conditions of 1 M VO2+/5 M H2SO4, and this was subsequently examined in spectroscopic analysis. In the VRFB single cell performance test, the cell with the hybrid membrane showed better energy efficiency than the Nafion cell with 92.66% at 40 mA cm−2 and 78.1% at 100 mA cm−2 with no delamination observed between the Nafion layer and the PBI layer after the test was completed.

Graphical abstract: Polybenzimidazole/Nafion hybrid membrane with improved chemical stability for vanadium redox flow battery application

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
08 mei 2018
Accepted
08 jul 2018
First published
16 jul 2018
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY-NC license

RSC Adv., 2018,8, 25304-25312

Polybenzimidazole/Nafion hybrid membrane with improved chemical stability for vanadium redox flow battery application

S. M. Ahn, H. Y. Jeong, J. Jang, J. Y. Lee, S. So, Y. J. Kim, Y. T. Hong and T. Kim, RSC Adv., 2018, 8, 25304 DOI: 10.1039/C8RA03921F

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