Morphology and Topography Studies of Composite Membranes Developed from Chitosan/Phthaloyl Chitosan Consisting Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube/Montmorillonite as Filler

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Analytical Data, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember

2 Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Univerisiti Teknologi Malaysia

3 Advanced Membrane Technology Research Centre (AMTEC), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

4 Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science and Analytic Data, Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember

Abstract

This work discusses the synthesis and characterizations of the newly developed composite membranes based on  chitosan/phthaloyl chitosan (Cs/PhCs) as a matrix with various compositions of multi-walled carbon  nanotube/montmorillonite (MWCNT/MMT) filler. The Cs/PhCs/MWCNT/MMT composite membranes are synthesized via the solvent evaporation method and were investigated by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR), Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), and DMFC single cell test. The FTIR characterization result showed that all membranes have origin peaks at 3433, 2943, and 1525 cm-1 contributed to vibrations of O-H, C-H, and N-H group, respectively. Meanwhile, the composite membranes with 7.5 and 8 wt.% filler have characteristic peaks of vibration Si-O-Si, Si-OH, and Si-O at 1209, 886, and 591 cm-1 respectively. Cross-sectional micrographs of SEM and AFM revealed that the composite membrane with 7.5 wt.% filler had moderate surface roughness than the other as-fabricated membranes. As a result, this nanocomposite membrane can be an alternative  polyelectrolyte membrane for DMFC applications. The resulting Cs/PhCs/MWCNT/MMT-1 composite membrane has the  selectivity up to 5.13×105 S.s.cm-3 with the DMFC performance at 23.60 mW cm-2. 

Graphical Abstract

Morphology and Topography Studies of Composite Membranes Developed from Chitosan/Phthaloyl Chitosan Consisting Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotube/Montmorillonite as Filler

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Journal of Membrane Science and Research
Volume 7, Issue 4
October 2021
Pages 295-304

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History

  • Receive Date: 22 March 2020
  • Revise Date: 17 October 2020
  • Accept Date: 06 November 2020

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