Title
Stability in alkaline aqueous electrolyte of air electrode protected with fluorinated interpenetrating polymer network membrane
Date Issued
15 January 2015
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Université de Cergy-Pontoise
Publisher(s)
Elsevier B.V.
Abstract
We developed original anion exchange membranes to protect air electrodes operating in aqueous lithium-air battery configuration, i.e. supplied with atmospheric air and in concentrated aqueous lithium hydroxide. These protective membranes have an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) architecture combining a hydrogenated cationic polyelectrolyte network based on poly(epichlorohydrin) (PECH) and a fluorinated neutral network based on perfluoropolyether (Fluorolink® MD700). Two phases, each one rich in one of the polymer, are co-continuous in the materials. This morphology allows combining their properties according to the weight proportions of each polymer. Thus, PECH/Fluorolink IPNs show ionic conductivity varying from 1 to 2 mS cm-1, water uptake from 30 to 90 wt.% and anionic transport number from 0.65 to 0.80 when the PECH proportion varies from 40 to 90 wt.%. These membranes have been systematically assembled on air electrodes. Air electrode protected with PECH/Fluorolink 70/30 IPN shows outstanding stability higher than 1000 h, i.e. a 20-fold increase in the lifetime of the non-modified electrode. This efficient membrane/air electrode assembly is promising for development of alkaline electrolyte based storage or production energy systems, such as metal air batteries or alkaline fuel cells.
Start page
488
End page
495
Volume
274
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Electroquímica
Química física
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84908377717
Source
Journal of Power Sources
ISSN of the container
03787753
Sponsor(s)
This work is sponsored by the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR) of France ( ANR-10-Stock-E-LIO2 ). The authors would like to thank Dr. Philippe Stevens and Dr. Gwenaelle Toussaint from EDF France for many fruitful discussions. Our gratitude also goes to Solvay Specialty Polymers for supplying the fluorinated monomer used in this research and for its valuable scientific advice. Finally, we would like to thank the Région Ile-de-France for its sponsoring in the acquisition of the confocal laser scanning microscope (Sesame – COMICER project) used in this work.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus