Investigation on sulphonated zinc oxide nanorod incorporated sulphonated poly (1,4-phenylene ether ether sulfone) nanocomposite membranes for improved performance of microbial fuel cell

摘要

Hydrothermally prepared zinc oxide nanorods are sulphonated (SeZnO NR) and incorporated into 15% Sulphonated Poly (1,4-Phenylene Ether Ether Sulfone) (SPEES) to improve the hydrophilicity, water uptake and ion transfer capacity. Water uptake and ion transfer capacity increased to 34.6 +/- 0.6% and 2.0 +/- 0.05 meq g(-1) from 29.8 +/- 0.3% and 1.4 +/- 0.04 meq g(-1) by adding 7.5 wt% SeZnO NR to SPEES. Morphological studies show the prepared S eZnO NR is well dispersed in the polymer matrix. SPEES +7.5 wt% SeZnO NR membrane exhibits optimum performance after three-weeks of continual operation in a fabricated microbial fuel cell (MFC) to produce a maximum power density of 142 +/- 1.2 mWm(-2) with a reduced biofilm compared to plain SPEES (59 +/- 0.8 mW m(-2)), unsulphonated filler incorporated SPEES (SPEES + 7.5 wt% ZnO, 68 +/- 1.1 mW m(-2)) and Nafion (130 +/- 1.5 mW m(-2)) thereby suggesting its suitability as a sustainable and improved cation exchange membrane (CEM) for MFCs. (C) 2021 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.