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Analyses of scanning electrochemical microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in direct methanol fuel cells: permeability resistance and proton conductivity of polyaniline modified membrane

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Abstract

Nafion 112/polyaniline (Na/PANi) composite membranes were synthesized by chemical polymerization of aniline on the perfluorinated structure for use in direct methanol fuel cells as a solid electrolyte. The morphology and physicochemical properties of the composite membranes were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuation Fourier reflection infrared spectroscopy (FTIR-ATR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The electrochemical properties of the membranes were investigated by scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM), electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), and cyclic voltammetry (CV). The results show that PANi-modified Nafion during 1 and 24 h decrease the methanol crossover by 78% and 89% and increase the proton conductivity by 17% and 2.6% respectively.

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Funding

This work has been supported by the MESRSFC and CNRST (Morocco) under grant no. PPR/30/2015.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratoire des Matériaux et Environnement, Faculté des Sciences, Département de Chimie, Université Ibn Zohr, B.P. 8106, 80000, Agadir, Morocco

    S. Ben Jadi, A. El Azrak & M. Bazzaoui

  2. Laboratoire de Chimie des Matériaux, Faculté des Sciences, Département de Chimie, Université Mohammed Ier, 60000, Oujda, Morocco

    A. El Guerraf & E.A. Bazzaoui

  3. Department of General and Physical Chemistry, Faculty of Sciences, University of Pécs, Ifjúság útja 6, Pécs, 7624, Hungary

    A. Kiss

  4. Department of Mechanical Systems Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Hiroshima Institute of Technology, 2-1-1 Miyake, Saeki-ku, Hiroshima, 731-5193, Japan

    R. Wang

  5. Faculdade de Engenharia, Departamento de Engenharia Química, Universidade do Porto, Rua Roberto Frias, 4200-465, Porto, Portugal

    J. I. Martins & M. Bazzaoui

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  1. S. Ben Jadi
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Ben Jadi, S., El Guerraf, A., Kiss, A. et al. Analyses of scanning electrochemical microscopy and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy in direct methanol fuel cells: permeability resistance and proton conductivity of polyaniline modified membrane. J Solid State Electrochem 24, 1551–1565 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10008-020-04659-2

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