Developing low cost and highly active fuel cell is one of the high-priority research directions for fuel cell commercialization, whereas durable electrodes and electrolyte membranes are keys for its optimization. Herein, a novel nanocomposite electrolyte membranes for direct methanol fuel cell were prepared from eco-friendly polymer blend composed of poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) and iota carrageenan (IC). Sulfated titania (SO4TiO2) nanotubes are synthesized by impregnation–calcination method and incorporated as doping agents into the polymer matrix with different percentage ranged between 1 wt% and .5 wt%. The PVA/IC/SO4TiO2 nanocomposite membranes exhibited reduction in water and methanol uptake compared to that of undoped membrane, while the thermal properties and oxidative stability increased as the doping agent content increased. Methanol permeability of PVA/IC/ S O 4 2 − -TiO2-7.5 membrane was 0.62 × 10−7 cm2 s−1, which is 43 times lower than Nafion 117 (26.9 × 10−7 cm2 s−1). Furthermore, it was noticed that the ion exchange capacity and mechanical properties of the nanocomposite membranes are higher than that of Nafion 117.

中文翻译：

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基于掺杂硫酸化二氧化钛纳米管的交联环保聚合物的新型纳米复合膜用于直接甲醇燃料电池

开发低成本、高活性的燃料电池是燃料电池商业化的重点研究方向之一，而耐用的电极和电解质膜是其优化的关键。在此，由聚乙烯醇 (PVA) 和 iota 卡拉胶 (IC) 组成的环保聚合物共混物制备了一种用于直接甲醇燃料电池的新型纳米复合电解质膜。硫酸化二氧化钛 (SO4TiO2) 纳米管是通过浸渍-煅烧法合成的，并作为掺杂剂以 1% 至 0.5% 的不同百分比掺入聚合物基质中。与未掺杂的膜相比，PVA/IC/SO4TiO2 纳米复合膜表现出对水和甲醇的吸收减少，而热性能和氧化稳定性随着掺杂剂含量的增加而增加。PVA/IC/SO 4 2 - -TiO2-7.5膜的甲醇渗透率为0.62×10-7 cm2 s-1，比Nafion 117（26.9×10-7 cm2 s-1）低43倍。此外，注意到纳米复合膜的离子交换容量和机械性能高于 Nafion 117。