Emerging Polybenzimidazole Membranes for Green Energy Conversion Devices

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (10 July 2022) | Viewed by 4326

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Institute of Polymers, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Acad. G. Bonchev 103A, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Interests: polybenzimidazoles and solid polymer electrolyte membranes therefrom&mdahs;synthesis; processing and characterization; ion-conductive membranes (both proton- and anion conductive); nanocomposite membranes; inversed and asymmetric membranes; chemically crosslinked membranes/cross-linking; stabilization; novel electrolyte systems, including ionic liquids and eutectics; electrospinning and nanofibers
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Guest Editor
Institute of Electrochemistry and Energy Systems, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences,Stefan Angelov Str., Bldg. 10, 1113 Sofia, Bulgaria
Interests: polymer electrolyte; hydrogen systems

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues:

Тhe introduction of the third decade of the emerging green energy revolution and ,hydrogen based energetics in particular, has given rise of the use of electrochemical devices for energy conversion such as hydrogen fuel cells, co-generation systems, water and low-alcohol electrolyzers, and flow batteries, among others. In all these devices, a core component is the solid polymer electrolyte separation membrane, where the thermally and chemically robust aromatic polybenzimidazoles (PBI’s) and their ionomeric derivatives are a significant material of choice since the pioneering discovery of the peculiar and promising proton conductivity properties of amphoteric PBI membranes doped with ortho-phosphoric acid (PBI/PA) by R. F. Savinell et al. in the mid-1990s. Since then, PBI based membranes doped with either mineral acids (H+ conductive), alkali bases (OH- conductive), ionic liquids, or ion-exchange derivatives with their intrinsic ionic conductivity have not only gained great popularity among the research community but most significantly have found their way to real commercialization as a close rival of perfluorinated super acid ionomeric membrane-based technology. During this time, two main groups of PBI membrane emerged: (i) the so-called ion-solvating PBI membranes, where the PBI matrix is solvated by an excess number of low-electrolyte molecules with predominantly ionic interactions within the free electrolyte media, and (ii) the ion-exchange derivative PBI membranes with significantly expressed hydrated form self-conductivity, where the main chain PBI is chemically modified with ion-exchange side groups. In both cases, factors such as reaching highly concentrated forms of electrolyte doping for the ion-solvating and high ionomeric density and particularly high alkaline concentration stability for the ionomeric based PBI membrane are still challenging. Here, the ion-enhancing and mechanical reinforcing properties of different inorganic fillers (e.g., natural and synthetic (alumo)silicates, carbon based micro- and nanofillers like graphene and carbon nanotubes, etc.) play significant intermediate role in PBI membranes’ property tuning.

This Special Issue on Emerging Polybenzimidazole Membranes for Green Energy Conversion Devices in the journal Membranes seeks contributions to assess state-of-the-art and conceptual developments in the field of PBI separation membranes for fuel cells, electrolyzers, and flow batteries. Topics include, but are not limited to, new PBI membrane developments, composite membranes, chemical modification and cross-linking, manufacturing/stabilization techniques, characterization, fuel cell/electrolyzers and ox-red flow-battery application, industrial exploitation, and perspective. Authors are invited to submit their latest results—both original papers and reviews are welcome.

Dr. Hristo Penchev
Prof. Dr. Evelina Slavcheva
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • PBI membrane developments
  • composite membranes
  • chemical modification and cross-linking
  • manufacturing/stabilization techniques
  • fuel cell/electrolyzers and ox-red flow-battery application
  • industrial exploitation and perspective

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 6807 KiB  
Article
Enhanced MEA Performance for an Intermediate-Temperature Fuel Cell with a KH5(PO4)2-Doped Polybenzimidazole Membrane
by Yifan Li, Jing Hu, Joan Papavasiliou, Zhiyong Fu, Li Chen and Haibin Li
Membranes 2022, 12(8), 728; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12080728 - 23 Jul 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1618
Abstract
This work exhibits an effective approach to enhance the performance of membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) with KH5(PO4)2-doped PBI membrane, by adding phosphoric acid (PA) in the catalyst layer (CL). The ohmic resistance and single-cell performance of the MEA, [...] Read more.
This work exhibits an effective approach to enhance the performance of membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) with KH5(PO4)2-doped PBI membrane, by adding phosphoric acid (PA) in the catalyst layer (CL). The ohmic resistance and single-cell performance of the MEA, treated with PA, are reduced by ~80% and improved by ~800%, respectively, compared to that of untreated MEA. Based on the MEA pretreated with PA, the influence of humidity and temperature on the resistance and the single-cell performance are investigated. Under humidified gas conditions, the ohmic resistance of MEA is reduced but the charge transfer resistance is slightly increased. Regarding the effect of temperature, the ohmic resistance of MEA becomes lower as the temperature elevates from 140 to 180 °C, but increases at 200 °C. The maximum peak power density presents at 180 °C and 20% RH with 454 mW cm−2. The peak power density is favored with temperature increase from 140 to 180 °C, but decreases with further increase to 200 °C. Moreover, when dry gas conditions are employed, the output performance is unstable, suggesting that humidification is necessary to inhibit degradation for a long-term stability test. Full article
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13 pages, 2435 KiB  
Article
Characterization of PBI/Graphene Oxide Composite Membranes for the SO2 Depolarized Electrolysis at High Temperature
by Sergio Diaz-Abad, Sandra Fernández-Mancebo, Manuel A. Rodrigo and Justo Lobato
Membranes 2022, 12(2), 116; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes12020116 - 20 Jan 2022
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2347
Abstract
In this work, polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes with different graphene oxide (GO) contents (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 wt %) as organic filler have been prepared. The X-ray diffraction confirms the incorporation of the filler into the polymeric membrane. The composite GO-based PBI membranes [...] Read more.
In this work, polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes with different graphene oxide (GO) contents (0.5, 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0 wt %) as organic filler have been prepared. The X-ray diffraction confirms the incorporation of the filler into the polymeric membrane. The composite GO-based PBI membranes show better proton conductivity at high temperature (110–170 °C) than the pristine one. Moreover, the hydrophobicity of the PBI membranes is also improved, enhancing water management. The chemical stability demonstrates the benefit of the incorporation of GO in the PBI matrix. What is more, the composite PBI-based membranes show better phosphoric acid retention capability. For the first time, the results of the SO2-depolarized electrolysis for hydrogen production at high temperature (130 °C) using phosphoric acid-doped polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes with the different GO contents are shown. The benefit of the organic filler is demonstrated, as H2SO4 production is 1.5 times higher when the membrane with a content of 1 wt % of GO is used. Moreover, three times more hydrogen is produced with the membrane containing 2 wt % of GO compared with the non-modified membrane. The obtained results are very promising and provide open research for this kind of composite membranes for green hydrogen production by the Westinghouse cycle. Full article
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