Composite membranes based on sulfonated poly(phenylene sulfide sulfone) loaded with sulfonated hypercrosslinked polystyrene nanoparticles are here proposed for redox flow battery applications. Nanoparticles have been synthesized via Friedel-Craft alkylation and subsequent post-functionalization, and their chemical structure and morphology has been fully deconvoluted. The membranes, obtained by solution casting, have been characterized ex-situ and in operando to shed light on their performances as compared to commercial Nafion 212. The use of organic fillers offers different advantages over inorganic ones, such as better compatibility with the polymer matrix and easier tunability of the degree of sulfonation, and thus of the ion exchange capacity. Composite membranes displayed a significant lowering of the vanadium-ion crossover, yet maintaining high proton conductivity. This result greatly impacted on flow battery self-discharge and on its capacity fading. The first increased from 2 to 7.5 days, while the latter decreased (over 25 cycles) from 8% to 5% for composite membranes with respect to Nafion 212.

Highly ion selective hydrocarbon-based membranes containing sulfonated hypercrosslinked polystyrene nanoparticles for vanadium redox flow batteries

Gigli M.
;
Licoccia S.;
2018-01-01

Abstract

Composite membranes based on sulfonated poly(phenylene sulfide sulfone) loaded with sulfonated hypercrosslinked polystyrene nanoparticles are here proposed for redox flow battery applications. Nanoparticles have been synthesized via Friedel-Craft alkylation and subsequent post-functionalization, and their chemical structure and morphology has been fully deconvoluted. The membranes, obtained by solution casting, have been characterized ex-situ and in operando to shed light on their performances as compared to commercial Nafion 212. The use of organic fillers offers different advantages over inorganic ones, such as better compatibility with the polymer matrix and easier tunability of the degree of sulfonation, and thus of the ion exchange capacity. Composite membranes displayed a significant lowering of the vanadium-ion crossover, yet maintaining high proton conductivity. This result greatly impacted on flow battery self-discharge and on its capacity fading. The first increased from 2 to 7.5 days, while the latter decreased (over 25 cycles) from 8% to 5% for composite membranes with respect to Nafion 212.
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
PP_M.Gigli (2018 - J Membrane Science) - Highly ion selective hydrocarbon-based membranes containing sulfonated hypercrosslinked polystyrene nanoparticles for VRFB.pdf

non disponibili

Descrizione: articolo principale
Tipologia: Documento in Post-print
Licenza: Accesso chiuso-personale
Dimensione 962.71 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
962.71 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in ARCA sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/10278/3717922
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 26
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 25
social impact