Stable and high surface area zirconium oxide nanoparticles have been synthesised by means of the hydrothermal method. The Brunauer–Emmett–Teller results show that a high surface area of 543 m2/g was...

To investigate the effect of acidic nanoparticles on proton conductivity, permeability, and fuel-cell performance, a commercial Nafion^® 117 membrane was impregnated with zirconium phosphates (ZrP) and sulfated zirconium (S-ZrO₂) nanoparticles. As they are more stable than other solid superacids, sulfated metal oxides have been the subject of intensive research. Meanwhile, hydrophilic, proton-conducting inorganic acids such as zirconium phosphate (ZrP) have been used to modify the Nafion^® membrane due to their hydrophilic nature, proton-conducting material, very low toxicity, low cost, and stability in a hydrogen/oxygen atmosphere. A tensile test, water uptake, methanol crossover, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to assess the capacity of nanocomposite membranes to function in a fuel cell. The modified Nafion^® membrane had a higher water uptake and a lower water content angle than the commercial Nafion^® 117 membrane, indicating that it has a greater impact on conductivity. Under strain rates of 40, 30, and 20 mm/min, the nanocomposite membranes demonstrated more stable thermal deterioration and higher mechanical strength, which offers tremendous promise for fuel-cell applications. When compared to 0.113 S/cm and 0.013 S/cm, respectively, of commercial Nafion^® 117 and Nafion^® ZrP membranes, the modified Nafion^® membrane with ammonia sulphate acid had the highest proton conductivity of 7.891 S/cm. When tested using a direct single-cell methanol fuel cell, it also had the highest power density of 183 mW cm⁻² which is better than commercial Nafion^® 117 and Nafion^® ZrP membranes.

The purpose of this study is to identify the steps involved in fabricating silica/chitosan composite membranes and their suitability for fuel cell applications. It also intends to identify the physical characteristics of chitosan composite membranes, including their degree of water absorption, proton conductivity, methanol permeability, and functional groups. In this investigation, composite membranes were fabricated using the solution casting method with a chitosan content of 5 g and silica dosage variations of 2% and 4% while stirring at a constant speed for 2 h. According to the findings, the analysis of composite membranes produced chitosan membranes that were successfully modified with silica. The optimum membrane was found to be 4% s-SiO₂ from the Sol-gel method with the composite membrane’s optimal condition of 0.234 cm/s proton conductivity, water uptake of 56.21%, and reduced methanol permeability of 0.99 × 10⁻⁷ cm²/s in the first 30 min and 3.31 × 10⁻⁷ in the last 150 min. Maintaining lower water uptake capacity at higher silica content is still a challenge that needs to be addressed. In conclusion, the fabricated membranes showed exceptional results in terms of proton conductivity and methanol permeability.

This paper aimed to study the influence of zirconium phosphate (ZrP) nanoparticles on reducing the diameter of nanofibres during electrospinning. Addition of metal oxide such as zirconium phosphate decreases the diameter and smooths on the polyacrylonitrile (PAN) nanofibres as observed by the SEM techniques. Furthermore, this work investigated the effect of zirconium phosphate on the morphology and conductivity of modified PAN nanofibres under SEM, XRD and electrochemical cells. The PAN/zirconium phosphate nanofibres were obtained with the diameter ranges between 100 and 200 nm, which mean that the nanofibres morphology significantly changed with the addition of the zirconium phosphate nanoparticles. The conductivity of PAN and PAN-Nafion zirconium phosphate nanofibres was more improved when compared to that of the plain PAN nanofibres as observed under electrochemical measurements. The plain PAN nanofibres show the total degradation on thermal gravimetric analysis results when compared to the modified PAN with zirconium phosphate nanoparticles. The thermal properties and proton conductivity make the PAN/ZrP nanofibres as promising nanofillers for fuel cell electrolytes.