Poly(vinylalcohol)/poly(acrylamide-co-diallyldimethylammonium chloride)(PVA/PAADDA) composite as novel anion-exchange membranes for potential use in fuel cells

摘要

The new concept fuel cell using alkaline anion exchange membranes (AAEMs) has been evoked great interest due to their numerous advantages over proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells such as: (i) faster kinetics of oxygen reduction reactions in an alkaline media, which allows the use of non-noble and low-cost metal electrocatalysts (e.g., silver and nickel); (ii) improved water management since the electro-osmotic drag transports water away from the cathode and (iii) lowered alcohol 'crossover' problem due to the hydroxide ion transport from cathode to anode (1,2). Some AAEMs have been evaluated for use as solid polymer electrolytes for alkaline membrane fuel cells, where the membranes were constructed mainly from quatemized polymers with an anion as the charge carrier (1-4).