Characterization of sulphonated polyether ether ketone chitosan membrane for fuel cell / Awangku Noorazlee Awang Bungsu

The demand for power generation with environmental friendly has increased. Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell appears as one of the promising fuel cell that can reduce the fossil fuel dependency. The development on non-perfluorinated hydrocarbon proton exchange membrane material has increase because of their excellent thermal resistance, hydrolytic characteristic and chemical resistance but has lower proton conductivity. A composite membrane of sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK) polymer with the addition of chitosan (Cs) by varying the ratio of SPEEK and chitosan percentage contained has been prepared using cast technique. Cs has characteristic of hydrophilic and its amino groups may be protonated. Cs has both hydroxyl and amino groups where it can be modified chemically into many forms and can participate in chemical reactions '23l The degree of sulfonation of SPEEK was determined using hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance. The proton conductivity of SPEEK-Cs membrane was obtained using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy device. In term of performance, the SPEEK-Cs membrane been examined their characterization on water uptake and degree of swelling. The water uptake and the degree of swelling for the SPEEK-Cs membrane was increasing as the Cs quantity in the membrane increased that caused by hydrophilic characteristic in Cs. The increasing of quantity of Cs in the membrane also influence in increasing proton conductivity.