More sustainable electricity generation in hot and dry fuel cells with a novel hybrid membrane of Nafion/nano-silica/hydroxyl ionic liquid

A new hybrid proton exchange membrane (PEM) has been prepared from hydroxyl functionalized imidazolium ionic liquid (IL-OH), Nafion and nano-SiO2. The IL-OH, with a hydroxyl group that acts as both a proton acceptor and donor, forms strong hydrogen bonds with both Nafion and nano-SiO2, resulting in an effective hydrogen bond network in the ternary membrane. Such an anhydrous hydrogen-bond network, which is unknown previously, endows the PEMs with higher proton conductivity, greater thermal stability and surprisingly a more robust mechanical performance than PEMs consisting of conventional ionic liquids. The resulting PEMs have a tensile strength that is more than twice as strong as recast Nafion and an anhydrous ionic conductivity of ∼55 mS cm−1 at temperatures above 160 °C, with a proton transfer number of ∼0.9. A laboratory assembled H2–O2 fuel cell employing this new PEM delivered a power density of 340 and 420 mW cm−2 at 160 and 180 °C, respectively

Hydrogen via steam reforming of liquid biofeedstock

This review examines the use of steam reforming to convert bioliquids, such as ethanol, glycerol, butanol, vegetable oil, bio-oils and biodiesel, into hydrogen gas. The focus of the research was to investigate the research being undertaken in terms of catalyst developments for the steam reforming of the aforementioned feedstock, and to determine the perspective opportunities in this area. Hydrogen production by steam reforming of bio-oil, ethanol and pure glycerol has been widely investigated; several thermodynamic and catalytic investigations are available restricting new investigations. In contrast, hydrogen production from waste streams, vegetable oil, biodiesel and butanol is very recent and has room for further developments