Chitosan/magnetic chitin nanowhisker polyelectrolyte membrane for direct methanol fuel cell applications: preparation, characterization, and performance analysis

ABSTRACT

A hybrid chitosan-based nanocomposite was fabricated by chitin nanowhiskers coupled with silanized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles as a polyelectrolyte membrane for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The morphological evaluations articulated that the magnetite nanoparticles were uniformly attached to the chitin nanowhiskers. After characterization of the synthesized nanowhiskers, they were incorporated into the chitosan, as a polycationic electrolyte, to investigate the performance of nanocomposite for DMFC applications. An external magnetic field was applied to the magnetic chitin nanowhiskers to induce alignment, and the effects of aligned nanowhiskers, as well as random ones, were also studied. The magnetic chitin nanowhiskers positively influenced the water uptake and proton conductivity due to the formation of hydrogen bonds between the surface functional groups of nanowhiskers and free water molecules. On the other hand, methanol permeation of the chitosan nanocomposites was reduced regarding the tortuous pathways and narrower transportation channels by the presence of nanowhiskers.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Alignment
• chitin nanowhiskers
• chitosan
• direct methanol fuel cell
• magnetite nanoparticles

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Ethical approval

This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors.

Authorship contributions

• Mojtaba Nasirinezhad: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Resources, Writing – Original draft, Writing – Review & Editing, Formal analysis, Data Curation, Visualization

• Seyed Reza Ghaffarian: Conceptualization, Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Resources, Supervision

• Mahboube Mohamadi: Resources, Writing – Original draft, Writing – Review & Editing, Formal analysis, Data Curation, Visualization

Availability of data and material

The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author.

Additional information

Funding

No funding was received to assist with the preparation of this manuscript.

Notes on contributors

Mojtaba Nasirinezhad

Mojtaba Nasirinezhad has over 15 years’ experience relating to polymer synthesis and characterization, fabrication of composites parts for various applications, biotechnology, and advanced nanocomposites. He is currently an assistant professor at Department of Renewable Energies, Urmia University of Technology, Urmia, Iran.

Seyed Reza Ghaffarian Anbaran

Seyed Reza Ghaffarian Anbaran is currently working as a professor at Department of Polymer Engineering and Color Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran, Iran. He has authored or coauthored more than 100 ISI journal papers and presented more than 60 international conference presentations. His areas of research include polymer synthesis, high performance materials, advanced composites, biotechnology, and also nanotechnology.

Mahboube Mohamadi

Mahboube Mohamadi, graduated Polymer Engineer (2017), is an assistant professor of Polymer Engineering at the Faculty of Engineering, Urmia University, Urmia, Iran. Her fields of research are polymer blends, processing of polymers, polymer analysis and characterization as well as nanotechnology.