The effects of plasticizerãgent in mesoporous phosphotungsticãcid modified chitosan membraneãnd its performances for direct methanol fuel cellãpplication

Chitosan (Cs) isãnãttractive material with outstanding properties suchãs excellent film-forming properties, biodegradability,ãnd ease of chemical modification. The Cs membrane is usuallyãppliedãs part of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) material in fuel cellãpplications. The drawbacks of the Cs membrane can be surmounted byãpplying the hydrophilic/plasticizerãgentãnd combining the modified heteropolyãcid filler. In this research, the Cs membrane was successfully fabricated usingã solvent-evaporation method with the incorporation of mesoporous phosphotungsticãcid (m-PTA)ãnd glycerol (gly). The outstanding performances were obtained by the Cs/gly-1/m-PTA membrane, which had the first degradation temperature up to 200 °C, chemical stability with the lowest weight lossãt 18.33±0.762%,ãnd the highest proton conductivityãt 5.13 mS/cm. The other performances exchange capacity (IEC)ãt 2.949±0.022 mmol/g,ãnd waterãnd methanol uptakeãt 89.05±0.092%ãnd 1.26±0.031%, respectively. In comparison to the pristine Cs membrane, which exhibits lower proton conductivityãnd higher methanol permeabilityãt 2.40 mS/cmãnd 1.003×10-5 cm2/s, respectively, theãddition of m-PTA fillerãnd glyãsã plasticizerãgent increases the performance of the chitosan properties used in direct methanol fuel cell membranes.