Share This Special Issue

Special Issue Editors

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Membrane science and technologies are a key component for addressing many important issues such as drinking water, energy and elimination of environmental burdens etc. Currently, membranes have become an integral part of industrial processes with considerable commercial and technical importance. Polymeric membranes applications are varied and in recent years have evolved into many fields and are intensively investigated for application in fields such as barrier properties for packaging films; gas separation; water purification processes including nano/micro filtration, reverse osmosis; electrodialysis; dialysis; hemodialysis, and protective coatings (paint). Various emerging technologies employs polymeric membranes such as in secondary batteries and fuel cell applications, several optoelectronic applications, and conductive polymeric coatings and films.

This special issue welcomes articles on different aspects of membrane applications but are not limited to:

Energy storage and generation
Electronics
Biomedical applications
Sensors
Separation and water purification techniques
Gas or liquid capture
Membrane design using Industry 4.0 Technology

Dr. Gautam Das
Dr. Jinsu Gim
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

new polymer membrane applications
fuel cells
secondary batteries
membrane material
separation
gas capture
flue gas cleaning
electrodialysis
mixed matrix membrane
multifunctional membranes

Published Papers (2 papers)

Download All Papers

Research

Jump to: Review

11 pages, 3209 KiB

Open AccessCommunication

Electrospun Poly(Styrene−Co−Vinylbenzyl Chloride−Co−Acrylonitrile) Nanofiber Mat as an Anion Exchange Membrane for Fuel Cell Applications

by Dongho Kang, Ji Su Lee, Hyon Hee Yoon, Chinta Mani Sharma, Gautam Das and Young Soo Yoon

Polymers 2022, 14(16), 3236; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym14163236 - 09 Aug 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1564

Abstract

A nanofiber mat of styrene−co−vinylbenzyl chloride−co−acrylonitrile copolymer as an anion exchange membrane (AEM) was synthesized via the electrospinning of organic reaction mixtures. The synthesized membranes were characterized using FT-IR spectroscopy for structural analysis. The AEM demonstrated a high ionic conductivity mainly due to the phase segregation in the membrane structure, as analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The membrane properties such as water uptake, swelling ratio, and ion exchange capacity, as well as ionic conductivity, varied with the chemical composition. With the molar ratio of styrene, vinylbenzyl chloride, and acrylonitrile at 3:5:2, the highest ionic conductivity of 0.214 S cm⁻¹ at 80 °C was observed. Additionally, the AEM retained 94% of original conductivity after 72 h of soaking in 1 M KOH solution. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Polymeric Membranes Applications)

► Show Figures

Figure 1

Review

Jump to: Research

35 pages, 23558 KiB

Open AccessReview

Anion Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cell Application: A Review

by Gautam Das, Ji-Hyeok Choi, Phan Khanh Thinh Nguyen, Dong-Joo Kim and Young Soo Yoon

Polymers 2022, 14(6), 1197; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/polym14061197 - 16 Mar 2022

Cited by 57 | Viewed by 12912

Abstract

The fuel cell industry is the most promising industry in terms of the advancement of clean and safe technologies for sustainable energy generation. The polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell is divided into two parts: anion exchange membrane fuel cells (AEMFCs) and proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). In the case of PEMFCs, high-power density was secured and research and development for commercialization have made significant progress. However, there are technical limitations and high-cost issues for the use of precious metal catalysts including Pt, the durability of catalysts, bipolar plates, and membranes, and the use of hydrogen to ensure system stability. On the contrary, AEMFCs have been used as low-platinum or non-platinum catalysts and have a low activation energy of oxygen reduction reaction, so many studies have been conducted to find alternatives to overcome the problems of PEMFCs in the last decade. At the core of ensuring the power density of AEMFCs is the anion exchange membrane (AEM) which is less durable and less conductive than the cation exchange membrane. AEMFCs are a promising technology that can solve the high-cost problem of PEMFCs that have reached technological saturation and overcome technical limitations. This review focuses on the various aspects of AEMs for AEMFCs application. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue New Frontiers in Polymeric Membranes Applications)

► Show Figures