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Structure and performance of clay composite membranes with improved sodium conductivity for salinity gradient batteries
Abstract Low-cost cation exchange membranes with improved ionic conductivity and permselectivity are needed for the deployment of efficient large-scale energy storage technologies or separation technologies such as electrodialysis. In this work, a series of montmorillonite (Mt) clays and sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) composite membranes with 1 to 20 weight percentage (wt%) additives are studied. Two types of clays are investigated, a generic K30 Mt and an aluminum pillared (Al-pil) Mt with larger interlayer spacing owing to the inorganic crosslinks between the clay platelets. The addition of inorganic clays with two-dimensional geometries enables the formation of percolating sodium diffusing pathways with reduced tortuosity. As a result, the conductivity of the membranes increases with an increasing clay loading fraction, reaching up to 1.4 times that of the pure SPEEK with 20 wt% K30 Mt. The permselectivity of the native SPEEK membrane also improves with the addition of set amounts of K30 Mt, while the Al-pil Mt composites suffer from a slightly reduced permselectivity due to their higher water uptake. The voltaic efficiency of a concentration gradient flow battery shows that the addition of 20 wt% K30 Mt clay to the SPEEK polymer matrix can improve the voltaic efficiency by up to 10%.
Graphical abstract Display Omitted
Highlights Effect of montmorillonite clays in sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membranes. Correlation between clay loading, membrane properties and performance investigated. Increasing the clay loading increases the membrane sodium conductivity. Clay composite membranes show improved efficiency in salinity gradient batteries.
Structure and performance of clay composite membranes with improved sodium conductivity for salinity gradient batteries
Abstract Low-cost cation exchange membranes with improved ionic conductivity and permselectivity are needed for the deployment of efficient large-scale energy storage technologies or separation technologies such as electrodialysis. In this work, a series of montmorillonite (Mt) clays and sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) composite membranes with 1 to 20 weight percentage (wt%) additives are studied. Two types of clays are investigated, a generic K30 Mt and an aluminum pillared (Al-pil) Mt with larger interlayer spacing owing to the inorganic crosslinks between the clay platelets. The addition of inorganic clays with two-dimensional geometries enables the formation of percolating sodium diffusing pathways with reduced tortuosity. As a result, the conductivity of the membranes increases with an increasing clay loading fraction, reaching up to 1.4 times that of the pure SPEEK with 20 wt% K30 Mt. The permselectivity of the native SPEEK membrane also improves with the addition of set amounts of K30 Mt, while the Al-pil Mt composites suffer from a slightly reduced permselectivity due to their higher water uptake. The voltaic efficiency of a concentration gradient flow battery shows that the addition of 20 wt% K30 Mt clay to the SPEEK polymer matrix can improve the voltaic efficiency by up to 10%.
Graphical abstract Display Omitted
Highlights Effect of montmorillonite clays in sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membranes. Correlation between clay loading, membrane properties and performance investigated. Increasing the clay loading increases the membrane sodium conductivity. Clay composite membranes show improved efficiency in salinity gradient batteries.
Structure and performance of clay composite membranes with improved sodium conductivity for salinity gradient batteries
Boulif, Nadia (author) / Evers, Renate (author) / Houben, Menno (author) / Borneman, Zandrie (author) / Nijmeijer, Kitty (author)
Applied Clay Science ; 245
2023-09-08
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
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