Fabrication and performance of an agar-aerogel composite membrane for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells
by Yong-Sun Park; Yeong-Ju Choe; Kyoung-Jin Lee; Keun-Young Yoon; Hae-Jin Hwang
International Journal of Nanotechnology (IJNT), Vol. 15, No. 6/7, 2018

Abstract: In this study, we proposed a new type of proton conducting polymer membrane based on agar and polyethylene oxide (PEO) containing silica aerogel. Stable silica aerogel slurry was prepared from agar/PEO aqueous solutions with ethanol, and the composite membrane was fabricated by standard gel casting. The obtained agar/PEO composite membranes were translucent and exhibited a very smooth surface. From cross-sectional SEM observations, silica aerogel particles were found to be homogeneously distributed in the agar/PEO matrix. The ionic conductivity of the composite membranes was estimated to be approximately 1 × 10^-3 S cm^-1 at room temperature, and it was further improved by thermal treatment at 150°C and surface modification in a hexamethyldisilazane (HMDS)/n-hexane solution.

Online publication date: Mon, 26-Nov-2018

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