A Review on Sulfonated Polymer Composite/Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Membranes to Address Methanol Barrier Issue for Methanol Fuel Cells

This paper focuses on a literature analysis and review of sulfonated polymer (s-Poly) composites, sulfonated organic, inorganic, and organic−inorganic hybrid membranes for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEM) systems, particularly for methanol fuel cell applications. In this review, we focused mainly on the detailed analysis of the distinct segment of s-Poly composites/organic−inorganic hybrid membranes, the relationship between composite/organic− inorganic materials, structure, and performance. The ion exchange membrane, their size distribution and interfacial adhesion between the s-Poly composites, nanofillers, and functionalized nanofillers are also discussed. The paper emphasizes the enhancement of the s-Poly composites/organic−inorganic hybrid membrane properties such as low electronic conductivity, high proton conductivity, high mechanical properties, thermal stability, and water uptake are evaluated and compared with commercially available Nafion® membrane

Effect of In-Situ Dehydration on Activity and Stability of Cu–Ni–K2O/Diatomite as Catalyst for Direct Synthesis of Dimethyl Carbonate

An in-situ dehydrating system built in a continuous flow fixed-bed bubbling reactor for direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) was designed. 3A molecular sieve (MS) was selected as the ideal dehydrating agent and the water trapping efficiency was studied. The effect of dehydrating agent/catalyst ratio, the dehydrating temperature and pressure, as well as the space velocity on the direct DMC synthesis catalyzed by K2O-promoted Cu–Ni was further investigated. These results demonstrated that 3A MS could effectively dehydrate the reaction system at the optimal conditions of 120 °C and 1.0 MPa with gas space velocity (GHSV) of 600 h−1, thereby greatly shifting the reaction equilibrium toward high DMC yield. Higher DMC yield of 13% was achieved compared with undehydrated reaction. Moreover, the catalyst can be highly stabilized by 3A MS dehydration with stable performs over 22 h

3D Network Structural Poly (Aryl Ether Ketone)-Polybenzimidazole Polymer for High-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Poor mechanical property is a critical problem for phosphoric acid-doped high-temperature proton exchange membranes (HT-PEMs). In order to address this concern, in this work, a 3D network structural poly (aryl ether ketone)-polybenzimidazole (PAEK-cr-PBI) polymer electrolyte membrane was successfully synthesized through crosslinking reaction between poly (aryl ether ketone) with the pendant carboxyl group (PAEK-COOH) and amino-terminated polybenzimidazole (PBI-4NH2). PAEK-COOH with a poly (aryl ether ketone) backbone endows superior thermal, mechanical, and chemical stability, while PBI-4NH2 serves as both a proton conductor and a crosslinker with basic imidazole groups to absorb phosphoric acid. Moreover, the composite membrane of PAEK-cr-PBI blended with linear PBI (PAEK-cr-PBI@PBI) was also prepared. Both membranes with a proper phosphoric acid (PA) uptake exhibit an excellent proton conductivity of around 50 mS cm-1 at 170°C, which is comparable to that of the well-documented PA-doped PBI membrane. Furthermore, the PA-doped PAEK-cr-PBI membrane shows superior mechanical properties of 17 MPa compared with common PA-doped PBI. Based upon these encouraging results, the as-synthesized PAEK-cr-PBI gives a highly practical promise for its application in high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs)

Performance Enhanced SAPO-34 Catalyst for Methanol to Olefins: Template Synthesis Using a CO2-Based Polyurea

Introducing mesopores into the channels and cages of conventional micropores CHA (Chabazite) topological structure SAPO-34 molecular sieves can effectively improve mass transport, retard coke deposition rate and enhance the catalytic performance for methanol to olefins (MTO) reaction, especially lifetime and olefins selectivity. In order to overcome the intrinsic diffusion limitation, a novel CO2-based polyurea copolymer with affluent amine group, ether segment and carbonyl group has been firstly applied to the synthesis of SAPO-34 zeolite under hydrothermal conditions. The as-synthesized micro-mesoporosity SAPO-34 molecular sieve catalysts show heterogeneous size distribution mesopores and exhibit slightly decrease of BET surface area due to the formation of defects and voids. Meanwhile, the catalysts exhibit superior catalytic performance in the MTO reaction with more than twice prolonged catalytic lifespan and improvement of selectivity for light olefins compared with conventional microporous SAPO-34. The methodology provides a new way to synthesize and control the structure of SAPO-34 catalysts

Surface Reduced CeO2 Nanowires for Direct Conversion of CO2 and Methanol to Dimethyl Carbonate: Catalytic Performance and Role of Oxygen Vacancy

Ultralong 1D CeO2 nanowires were synthesized via an advanced solvothermal method, surface reduced under H2 atmosphere, and first applied in direct synthesis of dimethyl carbonate (DMC) from CO2 and CH3OH. The micro morphologies, physical parameters of nanowires were fully investigated by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), N2 adsorption, X-ray photoelectron spectrum (XPS), and temperature-programmed desorption of ammonia/carbon dioxide (NH3-TPD/CO2-TPD). The effects of surface oxygen vacancy and acidic/alkaline sites on the catalytic activity was explored. After reduction, the acidic/alkaline sites of CeO2 nanowires can be dramatically improved and evidently raised the catalytic performance. CeO2 nanowires reduced at 500 °C (CeO2_NW_500) exhibited notably superior activity with DMC yield of 16.85 mmol gcat−1. Furthermore, kinetic insights of initial rate were carried out and the apparent activation energy barrier of CeO2_NW_500 catalyst was found to be 41.9 kJ/mol, much tiny than that of CeO2_NW catalyst (74.7 KJ/mol)

Recent Progress of Biodegradable Polymer Package Materials: Nanotechnology Improving Both Oxygen and Water Vapor Barrier Performance

Biodegradable polymers have become a topic of great scientific and industrial interest due to their environmentally friendly nature. For the benefit of the market economy and environment, biodegradable materials should play a more critical role in packaging materials, which currently account for more than 50% of plastic products. However, various challenges remain for biodegradable polymers for practical packaging applications. Particularly pertaining to the poor oxygen/moisture barrier issues, which greatly limit the application of current biodegradable polymers in food packaging. In this review, various strategies for barrier property improvement are summarized, such as chain architecture and crystallinity tailoring, melt blending, multi-layer co-extrusion, surface coating, and nanotechnology. These strategies have also been considered effective ways for overcoming the poor oxygen or water vapor barrier properties of representative biodegradable polymers in mainstream research

A Novel Gel Polymer Electrolyte by Thiol-Ene Click Reaction Derived from CO2-Based Polycarbonate for Lithium-Ion Batteries

Here, we describe the synthesis of a CO2-based polycarbonate with pendent alkene groups and its functionalization by grafting methoxypolyethylene glycol in view of its application possibility in gel polymer electrolyte lithium-ion batteries. The gel polymer electrolyte is prepared by an in-situ thiol-ene click reaction between polycarbonate with pendent alkene groups and thiolated methoxypolyethylene glycol in liquid lithium hexafluorophosphate electrolyte and exhibits conductivity as remarkably high as 2.0×10−2 S cm−1 at ambient temperature. To the best of our knowledge, this gel polymer electrolyte possesses the highest conductivity in all relevant literatures. A free-standing composite gel polymer electrolyte membrane is obtained by incorporating the gel polymer electrolyte with electrospun polyvinylidene fluoride as a skeleton. The as-prepared composite membrane is used to assemble a prototype lithium iron phosphate cell and evaluated accordingly. The battery delivers a good reversible charge-discharge capacity close to 140 mAh g-1 at 1 C rate and 25°C with only 0.022% per cycle decay after 200 cycles. This work provides an interesting molecular design for polycarbonate application in gel electrolyte lithium-ion batteries

Continuous Dimethyl Carbonate Synthesis from CO2 and Methanol Using Cu-Ni@VSiO as Catalyst Synthesized by a Novel Sulfuration Method

Conversion of carbon dioxide into useful chemicals is a valuable task. One way to perform it is to transform CO2 into dimethyl carbonate (DMC) by a reaction with methanol. Catalyst exerts significant impact on this process. During this work, Cu-Ni@VSiO bimetallic catalysts were successfully synthesized by traditional solution and novel sulfuration methods. The catalytic materials were characterized by several analytical techniques and were tested in a continuous fixed-bed reactor under different reaction conditions to promote DMC synthesis from CO2 and methanol in the absence of dehydrating agents. The effects of reaction temperature, pressure, space velocity, metal loading, and bulk density on the catalytic performance were investigated in detail. It was found that the activity of Cu-Ni@VSiO catalyst with the support obtained by the novel sulfuration method is about three times higher when compared to that of the catalyst with the support that is synthesized by the traditional solution method. This result may stem from the difference in microstructure of the studied catalytic materials

Low-Carbon and Nanosheathed ZnCo2O4 Spheroids with Porous Architecture for Boosted Lithium Storage Properties

Multielectronic reaction electrode materials for high energy density lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) are severely hindered by their inherent sluggish kinetics and large volume variations, leading to rapid capacity fade. Here, a simple method is developed to construct low-carbon and nanosheathed ZnCo2O4 porous spheroids (ZCO@C-5). In this micro/nanostructure, an ultrathin amorphous carbon layer (~2 nm in thickness) is distributed all over the primary nanosized ZCO particles (~20 nm in diameter), which finally self-assembles into porous core (ZCO)-shell(carbon) micron spheroids. The nanoencapsulation and macro/mesoporous architecture can not only provide facile electrolyte penetration and rapid ion/electron transfer but also better alleviate volumetric expansion effect to avoid pulverization of ZCO@C-5 spheroids during repeat charge/discharge processes. As expected, the three-dimensional porous ZCO@C-5 composites exhibit high reversible capacity of 1240 mAh g−1 cycle at 500 mA g−1, as well as excellent long-term cycling stability and rate capability. The low-carbon and nanoencapsulation strategy in this study is simple and effective, exhibiting great potential for high-performance LIBs