Ion-Exchange-Induced Selective Etching for the Synthesis of Amino-Functionalized Hollow Mesoporous Silica for Elevated-High-Temperature Fuel Cells

Jin Zhang, Jian Liu, Shanfu Lu, Haijin Zhu, David Aili, Roland De Marco, Yan Xiang, Maria Forsyth, Qingfeng Li, San Ping Jiang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

As differentiated from conventional synthetic processes, amino-functionalized hollow mesoporous silica (NH2-HMS) has been synthesized using a new and facile strategy of ion-exchange-induced selective etching of amino-functionalized mesoporous silica (NH2-meso-silica) by an alkaline solution. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and in situ time-resolved small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) reveal that ion-exchange-induced selective etching arises from the gradient distribution of OH- in the NH2-meso-silica nanospheres. Moreover, the ion-exchange-induced selective etching mechanism is verified through a successful synthesis of hollow mesoporous silica. After infiltration with phosphotungstic acid (PWA), PWA-NH2-HMS nanoparticles are dispersed in the poly(ether sulfone)-polyvinylpyrrolidone (PES-PVP) matrix, forming a hybrid PWA-NH2-HMS/PES-PVP nanocomposite membrane. The resultant nanocomposite membrane with an optimum loading of 10 wt % of PWA-NH2-HMS showed an enhanced proton conductivity of 0.175 S cm-1 and peak power density of 420 mW cm-2 at 180 °C under anhydrous conditions. Excellent durability of the hybrid composite membrane fuel cell has been demonstrated at 200 °C. The results of this study demonstrated the potential of the facile synthetic strategy in the fabrication of NH2-HMS with controlled mesoporous structure for application in nanocomposite membranes as a technology platform for elevated-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)31922-31930
Number of pages9
JournalACS applied materials & interfaces
Volume9
Issue number37
DOIs
StatePublished - 20 Sep 2017
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • PES-PVP composite polymer
  • amino-functionalized hollow mesoporous silica (NH-HMS)
  • high-temperature proton exchange membranes (HT-PEMs)
  • ion-exchange-induced selective etching
  • phosphotungstic acid (PWA)
  • proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs)

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