It is important to have accurate, reliable, and convenient techniques for determining the methanol crossover rate through the polymer electrolyte membranes of fuel cells. In this work, various electrochemical techniques, namely; cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and potentiometry, have been used to measure the methanol crossover rates using Nafion 117 membrane. The purpose of using differen...

In conventional activated sludge (CAS) involving aerobic biological processes, the retention of silica nanoparticles (SiO2 NPs) has no detrimental effect on chemical oxygen demand (COD) and ammonia nitrogen (NH3–N) removal. However, for the membrane bioreactor (MBR) system, which is also based on the activated sludge process in addition to the membrane separation process, it has implications no...

In this work, TiO2 /SiO2 (pure anatase), and TiO2 /SiO2 (anatase/rutile) nano-photocatalysts are prepared by using sol-gel method and control of acidity. The particles size is calculated using Scheerer, s equation and is estimated to be around 7-15 nm. In order to improve the photocatalytic activity of TiO2 /SiO2 ,1% (wt) platinum particles are loaded on both catalysts using photoreductive meth...

We present a detailed analysis of the nanostructure of the short side chain (SSC) perfluorosulfonic acid membrane and its effect on H(2)O clustering, H(3)O(+) and H(2)O diffusion, and mean residence times of H(2)O near SO(3)(-) groups based on molecular dynamics simulations. We studied a range of hydration levels (λ) at temperatures of 300 and 360 K, and compare the results to our findings in t...

The complex environments experienced by water molecules in the hydrophilic channels of Nafion membranes are studied by ultrafast infrared pump-probe spectroscopy. A wavelength dependent study of the vibrational lifetime of the O-D stretch of dilute HOD in H(2)O confined in Nafion membranes provides evidence of two distinct ensembles of water molecules. While only two ensembles are present at ea...

Progress Report and Future Directions The fuel cell research cluster began with the DOE EPSCoR implementation grant “Fuel Cells: A Mobile Energy Source for the 21 Century” in July of 2001. The focus of this research was developing new and improved materials for hydrogen production and PEM fuel cells. Building on the major successes of this project, we proposed and were granted a renewed impleme...

Ionic polymer-metal composites ~IPMCs! consist of a polyelectrolyte membrane ~usually, Nafion or Flemion! plated on both faces by a noble metal, and is neutralized with certain counter ions that balance the electrical charge of the anions covalently fixed to the backbone membrane. In the hydrated state ~or in the presence of other suitable solvents!, the composite is a soft actuator and sensor....

H2 and O2 were produced in a twin reactor with two compartments divided by a Nafion membrane. Ce3+ and Ce4+ are adopted as redox mediator, which transferred the electron and holes between H2-evolving catalyst(Pt/SrTiO3:Rh) and O2 evolving catalyst (BiVO4). The optimal pH in the twin reactor was 1. Water splitting under Ce3+/Ce4+ equilibrium concentrations between two compartments gave the highe...