Synthesis of Composite Membrane Based Biopolymer Chitosan with Silica from Rice Husk Ash for Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Application

A membrane chitosan with silica from rice husk ash was fabricated as alternative membrane electrolyte for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) application. Chitosan is made from shrimp shell powder which is processed through deproteination, demineralization and deacetylation steps. Furthermore, the phase diversion technique was used to synthesis membranes by mixing chitosan and silica in acetic acid solution. The resultant membrane characterized with FTIR, water and methanol uptake, ion exchange capacity, and methanol permeability. FTIR analysis showed that chitosan and silica was successfully synthesized. Water uptake for the chitosan-silica membrane increased with increasing silica loading, but the methanol uptake value decreased. The chitosan-silica with 15 wt% silica loading exhibited the best ion exchange capacity and methanol permeability which were 1.290 meq/gram and 2.42 x 10-4 cm2/s, respectively. All the result obtained from this studi shown that chitosan-silica membrane is a promising electrolyte membrane for direct methanol fuel cell application.