Papers by Author: Ananta Kumar Mishra

Abstract: The development of sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone)-based (SPEEK) membranes by the incorporation of layered double hydroxide (LDH) as inorganic nanofiller has been achieved and its potential application in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) has been investigated. The physical properties and proton conductivity of SPEEK matrix incorporated layered double hydroxide (LDH) were analyzed and found that the incorporation of LDH to SPEEK improves the thermal stability, water uptake and proton conductivity compared to the virgin SPEEK. The proton conductivity of the SPEEK/LDH composite membrane containing 3 wt% LDH has been found to be 229.9 mS/cm where as the virgin SPEEK shows the proton conductivity value 147.6 ms/cm at 80 °C and 100 %RH.

Abstract: Nafion-clay nanocomposite membrane has been prepared by dispersing unmodified and acid activated Laponite XLS in Nafion 20% dispersion. The resulting membranes possess better proton conductivity and mechanical strength as compared to the virgin membrane. Acid activation of the nanoclay leads to the in-situ generation of H₃PO₄ by the hydrolysis of the peptizer present on the surface of the nanoclay. The in-situ generated H₃PO₄ helps in improving all the technical properties of the nanocomposite including the water uptake and proton conductivity of the nanocomposite, containing acid activated clay compared to the nanocomposite, containing unmodified clay. The maximum proton conductivity of 270.2 mS/cm is achieved at 110 °C for the nanocomposite membrane containing 3% acid-activated Laponite compared to 136.2 mS/cm for the virgin Nafion. Keywords: Nafion, clay, nanocomposite, peptizer, polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (FEMFC), proton conductivity, membrane