Martyna Charyton1,2,3, Francesco Deboli1,4, Peter Fischer5, Gerard Henrion2, Mathieu Etienne3, Mateusz L Donten1. 1. Amer-Sil S.A., 61 Rue D'Olm, Kehlen, 8281 Luxembourg, Luxembourg. 2. CNRS, Institut Jean Lamour (IJL), Université de Lorraine, 2 Allée André Guinier, F-54011 Nancy, France. 3. CNRS, Laboratory of Physical Chemistry and Microbiology for the Environment (LCPME), Université de Lorraine, 405 Rue de Vandoeuvre, F-54600 Villers-lès-Nancy, France. 4. Department of Chemical Engineering, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, B-3001 Leuven, Belgium. 5. Electrochemistry, Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT, Joseph-von-Fraunhofer, Straße 7, 76327 Pfinztal, Germany.
Abstract
This paper presents a novel, cost-effective approach to the fabrication of composite anion exchange membranes (AEMs). Hierarchical AEMs have been fabricated by coating a porous substrate with an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) layer where poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) is immobilized in a crosslinked matrix. The IPN matrix was formed by UV initiated radical crosslinking of a mixture of acrylamide-based monomers and acrylic resins. The fabricated membranes have been compared with a commercial material (Fumatech FAP 450) in terms of ionic transport properties and performance in a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). Measures of area-specific resistance (ASR) and vanadium permeability for the proposed membranes demonstrated properties approaching the commercial benchmark. These properties could be tuned by changing the content of PVP in the IPN coating. Higher PVP/matrix ratios facilitate a higher water uptake of the coating layer and thus lower ASR (as low as 0.58 Ω.cm2). On the contrary, lower PVP/matrix ratios allow to reduce the water uptake of the coating and hence decrease the vanadium permeability at the cost of a higher ASR (as high as 1.99 Ω.cm2). In VRFB testing the hierarchical membranes enabled to reach energy efficiency comparable with the commercial AEM (PVP_14-74.7%, FAP 450-72.7% at 80 mA.cm-2).
This paper presents a novel, cost-effective approach to the fabrication of composite anion exchange membranes (AEMs). Hierarchical AEMs have been fabricated by coating a porous substrate n class="Chemical">with an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) layer where poly(vinylpyrrolidone) (PVP) is immobilized in a crosslinked matrix. The IPN matrix was formed by UV initiated radical crosslinking of a mixture of acrylamide-based monomers and acrylic resins. The fabricated membranes have been compared with a commercial material (Fumatech FAP 450) in terms of ionic transport properties and performance in a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB). Measures of area-specific resistance (ASR) and vanadium permeability for the proposed membranes demonstrated properties approaching the commercial benchmark. These properties could be tuned by changing the content of PVP in the IPN coating. Higher PVP/matrix ratios facilitate a higher water uptake of the coating layer and thus lower ASR (as low as 0.58 Ω.cm2). On the contrary, lower PVP/matrix ratios allow to reduce the water uptake of the coating and hence decrease the vanadium permeability at the cost of a higher ASR (as high as 1.99 Ω.cm2). In VRFB testing the hierarchical membranes enabled to reach energy efficiency comparable with the commercial AEM (PVP_14-74.7%, FAP 450-72.7% at 80 mA.cm-2).