Preparation and Evaluation of Nanocomposite Membranes Based on SulfonatedGraphene Oxide and Carbon Nanotube for Aluminum Air Batteries

The procedure of membrane synthesis and evaluation plays an important role in development of new energy related technologies such as fuel cells, batteries and electrolyzer. The main challenge ofmembrane technology is the synthesis of high efficient, environmental friendly and cost effective membranes. In this work, a series of proton exchange membranes based on multi-functionalized graphene oxide (GO) and multi walled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) were synthesized via a solution casting procedure. The structure and morphology of the samples were investigated by Fouriertransform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and optical polarizing microscopy. Finally, the synthesized membranes were evaluated for proton conductivity from the point of measured current versus time at a constant potential in a homemade aluminum air battery cell setup and compared with the commercial nafion 112 membrane. For the synthesis of membranes, at first GO was synthesized through modified hummer method [1], MWCNT purchased from US research nanomaterials Inc. (OD: 20-30 nm) and purified via reflux treatment in HCl: HNO3 solution at 90 ◦C for 30 min, Then they were sulfonated via chlorosulfonic acid [2] and labeled as GO-SO3H and MWCNT-SO3H respectively. The membranes were prepared by casting the polymer solution of polyacrylonitrile/dimethylformamide With GO, GO-SO3H and MWCNT-SO3H to get modified membranes with the labels of GO-AN, GO-SO3H-AN and MWCNT-SO3H-AN.

کلیدواژه ها:

graphene oxide ، multi walled carbon nanotube ، solution casting procedure ، nanocomposite membrane ، aluminum air battery