Approaches to the Modification of Perfluorosulfonic Acid Membranes

Polymer ion-exchange membranes are featured in a variety of modern technologies including separation, concentration and purification of gases and liquids, chemical and electrochemical synthesis, and hydrogen power generation. In addition to transport properties, the strength, elasticity, and chemical stability of such materials are important characteristics for practical applications. Perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes are characterized by an optimal combination of these properties. Today, one of the most well-known practical applications of PFSA membranes is the development of fuel cells. Some disadvantages of PFSA membranes, such as low conductivity at low humidity and high temperature limit their application. The approaches to optimization of properties are modification of commercial PFSA membranes and polymers by incorporation of different additive or pretreatment. This review summarizes the approaches to their modification, which will allow the creation of materials with a different set of functional properties, differing in ion transport (first of all proton conductivity) and selectivity, based on commercially available samples. These approaches include the use of different treatment techniques as well as the creation of hybrid materials containing dopant nanoparticles. Modification of the intrapore space of the membrane was shown to be a way of targeting the key functional properties of the membranes.

Improving PFSA Membranes Using Sulfonated Nanodiamonds

Aquivion®-type perfluorosulfonic acid membranes with a polytetrafluoroethylene backbone and short side chains with sulfonic acid groups at the ends have great prospects for operating in hydrogen fuel cells. To improve the conducting properties of membranes, various types of nanofillers can be used. We prepared compositional Aquivion®-type membranes with embedded detonation nanodiamond particles. Nanodiamonds were chemically modified with sulfonic acid groups to increase the entire amount of ionogenic groups involved in the proton conductivity mechanism in compositional membranes. We demonstrated the rise of proton conductivity at 0.5-2 wt.% of sulfonated nanodiamonds in membranes, which was accompanied by good mechanical properties. The basic structural elements, conducting channels in membranes, were not destroyed in the presence of nanodiamonds, as follows from small-angle neutron scattering data. The prepared compositional membranes can be used in hydrogen fuel cells to achieve improved performance.

Perfluorosulfonic Acid Membranes with Short and Long Side Chains and Their Use in Sensors for the Determination of Markers of Viral Diseases in Saliva

The development of accessible express methods to determine markers of viral diseases in saliva is currently an actual problem. Novel cross-sensitive sensors based on Donnan potential with bio-comparable perfluorosulfonic acid membranes for the determination of salivary viral markers (N-acetyl-L-methionine, L-carnitine, and L-lysine) were proposed. Membranes were formed by casting from dispersions of Nafion or Aquivion in N-methyl-2-pyrollidone or in a mixture of isopropyl alcohol and water. The influence of the polymer equivalent weight and the nature of dispersing liquid on water uptake, ion conductivity, and slope of Donnan potential for the membranes in H+ and Na+ form was investigated. The varying of the sorption and transport properties of perfluorosulfonic acid membranes provided a change in the distribution of the sensor sensitivity to N-acetyl-L-methionine, L-carnitine, and L-lysine ions, which was necessary for multisensory system development. The simultaneous determination of three analytes, and the group analysis of them in artificial saliva solutions, was performed. The errors of N-acetyl-L-methionine and L-carnitine determination were 4-12 and 3-11%, respectively. The determination of L-lysine was complicated by its interaction with Ca2+ ions. The error of the group analysis was no greater than 9%. The reverse character of the viral markers' sorption by the membranes provided long-term sensor operation.

Monoethanolamine (MEA) Degradation: Influence on the Electrodialysis Treatment of MEA-Absorbent

The thermal-oxidative degradation of aqueous solutions of carbonized monoethanolamine (MEA, 30% wt., 0.25 mol MEA/mol CO₂) was studied for 336 h at 120 °C. Based on the change in the color of the solution and the formation of a precipitate, the occurrence of thermal-oxidative degradation of the MEA solution with the formation of destruction products, including insoluble ones, was confirmed. The electrokinetic activity of the resulting degradation products, including insoluble ones, was studied during the electrodialysis purification of an aged MEA solution. To understand the influence of degradation products on the ion-exchange membrane properties, a package of samples of MK-40 and MA-41 ion-exchange membranes was exposed to a degraded MEA solution for 6 months. A comparison of the efficiency of the electrodialysis treatment of a model absorption solution of MEA before and after long-time contact with degraded MEA showed that the depth of desalination was reduced by 34%, while the magnitude of the current in the ED apparatus was reduced by 25%. For the first time, the regeneration of ion-exchange membranes from MEA degradation products was carried out, which made it possible to restore the depth of desalting in the ED process by 90%.

Effect of OH-Group Introduction on Gas and Liquid Separation Properties of Polydecylmethylsiloxane

Membrane development for specific separation tasks is a current and important topic. In this work, the influence of OH-groups introduced in polydecylmethylsiloxane (PDecMS) was shown on the separation of CO₂ from air and aldehydes from hydroformylation reaction media. OH-groups were introduced to PDecMS during hydrosilylation reaction by adding 1-decene with undecenol-1 to polymethylhydrosiloxane, and further cross-linking. Flat sheet composite membranes were developed based on these polymers. For obtained membranes, transport and separation properties were studied for individual gases (CO₂, N₂, O₂) and liquids (1-hexene, 1-heptene, 1-octene, 1-nonene, heptanal and decanal). Sorption measurements were carried out for an explanation of difference in transport properties. The general trend was a decrease in membrane permeability with the introduction of OH groups. The presence of OH groups in the siloxane led to a significant increase in the selectivity of permeability with respect to acidic components. For example, on comparing PDecMS and OH-PDecMS (~7% OH-groups to decyl), it was shown that selectivity heptanal/1-hexene increased eight times.

Mitigating of Thin-Film Composite PTMSP Membrane Aging by Introduction of Porous Rigid and Soft Branched Polymeric Additives

This work was focused on the mitigation of physical aging in thin-film composite (TFC) membranes (selective layer ~1 μm) based on polymer intrinsic microporosity (PTMSP) by the introduction of both soft, branched polyethyleneimine (PEI), and rigid, porous aromatic framework PAF-11, polymer additives. Self-standing mixed-matrix membranes of thicknesses in the range of 20-30 μm were also prepared with the same polymer and fillers. Based on 450 days of monitoring, it was observed that the neat PTMSP composite membrane underwent a severe decline of its gas transport properties, and the resultant CO₂ permeance was 14% (5.2 m³ (STP)/(m²·h·bar)) from the initial value measured for the freshly cast sample (75 m³ (STP)/(m²·h·bar)). The introduction of branched polyethyleneimine followed by its cross-linking allowed to us to improve the TFC performance maintaining CO₂ permeance at the level of 30% comparing with day zero. However, the best results were achieved by the combination of porous, rigid and soft, branched polymeric additives that enabled us to preserve the transport characteristics of TFC membrane as 43% (47 m³ (STP)/(m²·h·bar) after 450 days) from its initial values (110 m³ (STP)/(m²·h·bar)). Experimental data were fitted using the Kohlrausch-Williams-Watts function, and the limiting (equilibrium) values of the CO₂ and N₂ permeances of the TFC membranes were estimated. The limit value of CO₂ permeance for neat PTMSP TFC membrane was found to be 5.2 m³ (STP)/(m²·h·bar), while the value of 34 m³(STP)/(m²·h·bar) or 12,600 GPU was achieved for TFC membrane containing 4 wt% cross-linked PEI, and 30 wt% PAF-11. Based on the N₂ adsorption isotherms data, it was calculated that the reduction of the free volume was 1.5-3 times higher in neat PTMSP compared to the modified one. Bearing in mind the pronounced mitigation of physical aging by the introduction of both types of fillers, the developed high-performance membranes have great potential as support for the coating of an ultrathin, selective layer for gas separation.

Polystyrene-Based Single-Ion Conducting Polymer Electrolyte for Lithium Metal Batteries

Lithium metal batteries are one of the more promising replacements for lithium-ion batteries owing to their ability to reach high energy densities. The main problem limiting their commercial application is the formation of dendrites, which significantly reduces their durability and renders the batteries unsafe. In the present work, we used a single-ion conducting gel polymer electrolyte based on a poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene (SEBS) block copolymer, which was functionalized with benzenesulfonylimide anions and plasticized by a mixture of ethylene carbonate and dimethylacetamide (SSEBS-Ph-EC-DMA), with a solvent uptake of 160% (~12 solvent molecules per one functional group of the membrane). The SSEBS-Ph-EC-DMA electrolyte exhibits an ionic conductivity of 0.6 mSm∙cm−1 at 25 °C and appears to be a cationic conductor (TLi+ = 0.72). SSEBS-Ph-EC-DMA is electrochemically stable up to 4.1 V. Symmetrical Li|Li cells; further, with regard to SSEBS-Ph-EC-DMA membrane electrolytes, it showed a good performance (~0.10 V at first cycles and <0.23 V after 700 h of cycling at ±0.1 mA∙cm−2 and ±0.05 mAh∙cm−2). The LiFePO4|SSEBS-Ph-EC-DMA|Li battery showed discharge capacity values of 100 mAh∙g−1 and a 100% Coulomb efficiency, at a cycling rate of 0.1C.

Membranes Based on PTMSP/PVTMS Blends for Membrane Contactor Applications

In this work, perspective polymeric materials were developed for membrane contactor applications, e.g., for the dissolved oxygen removal from amine CO₂ capture solvents. Several polymeric blends based on poly[1-trimethylsilyl-1-propyne] (PTMSP) and poly[vinyltrimethylsilane] (PVTMS) were studied. The gas and water vapor sorption and permeability coefficients for the PTMSP/PVTMS blend membranes at different PVTMS contents (0-100%) were obtained under temperatures of 30 and 60 °C for the first time. As the PVTMS content increases, the O₂ and CO₂ permeabilities decrease by 160 and 195 times at 30 °C, respectively. The fractional accessible volume of the polymer blends decreases accordingly. The transport of the CO₂ capture solvent vapors through the PTMSP/PVTMS blend membranes were determined in thermo-pervaporation (TPV) mode using aqueous monoethanolamine (30%), N-methyldiethanolamine (40%), and 2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (30%) solutions as model amine solvents at 60 °C. The membranes demonstrated high pervaporation separation factors with respect to water, resulting in low amine losses. A joint analysis of the gas permeabilities and aqueous alkanolamine TPV data allowed us to conclude that the polymer blend composition of PTMSP/PVTMS 70/30 provides an optimal combination of a sufficiently high oxygen permeability and the pervaporation separation factor at a temperature of 60 °C.

New Generation of Compositional Aquivion®-Type Membranes with Nanodiamonds for Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Design and Performance

Compositional proton-conducting membranes based on perfluorinated Aquivion^®-type copolymers modified by detonation nanodiamonds (DND) with positively charged surfaces were prepared to improve the performance of hydrogen fuel cells. Small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments demonstrated the fine structure in such membranes filled with DND (0-5 wt.%), where the conducting channels typical for Aquivion^® membranes are mostly preserved while DND particles (4-5 nm in size) decorated the polymer domains on a submicron scale, according to scanning electron microscopy (SEM) data. With the increase in DND content (0, 0.5, and 2.6 wt.%) the thermogravimetric analysis, potentiometry, potentiodynamic, and potentiotatic curves showed a stabilizing effect of the DNDs on the operational characteristics of the membranes. Membrane-electrode assemblies (MEA), working in the O₂/H₂ system with the membranes of different compositions, demonstrated improved functional properties of the modified membranes, such as larger operational stability, lower proton resistance, and higher current densities at elevated temperatures in the extended temperature range (22-120 °C) compared to pure membranes without additives.

Moving beyond 90% Carbon Capture by Highly Selective Membrane Processes

A membrane-based system with a retentate recycle process in tandem with an enriching cascade was studied for >90% carbon capture from coal flue gas. A highly CO2-selective facilitated transport membrane (FTM) was utilized particularly to enhance the CO2 separation efficiency from the CO2-lean gases for a high capture degree. A techno-economic analysis showed that the retentate recycle process was advantageous for ≤90% capture owing to the reduced parasitic energy consumption and membrane area. At >90% capture, the enriching cascade outperformed the retentate recycle process since a higher feed-to-permeate pressure ratio could be applied. An overall 99% capture degree could be achieved by combining the two processes, which yielded a low capture cost of USD47.2/tonne, whereas that would be USD 42.0/tonne for 90% capture. This FTM-based approach for deep carbon capture and storage can direct air capture for the mitigation of carbon emissions in the energy sector.

Polymeric Membranes for Oil-Water Separation: A Review

This review is devoted to the application of bulk synthetic polymers such as polysulfone (PSf), polyethersulfone (PES), polyacrylonitrile (PAN), and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) for the separation of oil-water emulsions. Due to the high hydrophobicity of the presented polymers and their tendency to be contaminated with water-oil emulsions, methods for the hydrophilization of membranes based on them were analyzed: the mixing of polymers, the introduction of inorganic additives, and surface modification. In addition, membranes based on natural hydrophilic materials (cellulose and its derivatives) are given as a comparison.

Hydrogen Storage Mechanism in Sodium-Based Graphene Nanoflakes: A Density Functional Theory Study

Carbon materials, such as graphene nanoflakes, carbon nanotubes, and fullerene, can be widely used to store hydrogen, and doping these materials with lithium (Li) generally increases their H2-storage densities. Unfortunately, Li is expensive; therefore, alternative metals are required to realize a hydrogen-based society. Sodium (Na) is an inexpensive element with chemical properties that are similar to those of lithium. In this study, we used density functional theory to systematically investigate how hydrogen molecules interact with Na-doped graphene nanoflakes. A graphene nanoflake (GR) was modeled by a large polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon composed of 37 benzene rings, with GR-Na-(H2)n and GR-Na+-(H2)n (n = 0–12) clusters used as hydrogen storage systems. Data obtained for the Na system were compared with those of the Li system. The single-H2 GR-Li and GR-Na systems (n = 1) exhibited binding energies (per H2 molecule) of 3.83 and 2.72 kcal/mol, respectively, revealing that the Li system has a high hydrogen-storage ability. This relationship is reversed from n = 4 onwards; the Na systems exhibited larger or similar binding energies for n = 4–12 than the Li-systems. The present study strongly suggests that Na can be used as an alternative metal to Li in H2-storage applications. The H2-storage mechanism in the Na system is also discussed based on the calculated results.