Porous Polymeric Membrane for Fuel Cell and Radionuclide Waste Management

Abstract

Membrane technologies have been the key component of research in the last few decades, with the latest improvement in both fabrication and design aspects. Porous / nanochannel polymeric membranes have gained much attention in this perspective for their utilization in a variety of fields such as adhesive, sensor, biotechnology, waste water treatment including separation techniques and ion exchange membranes for polymer electrolytes membrane fuel cell (PEMFCs), because of their excellent thermal, outstanding mechanical properties along with electrical properties when suitably functionalized with some functional group. This thesis mainly focuses the research work being conducted on fabricating porous polymer membranes followed by the functionalization and subsequently their applications in fuel cell technology as electrolytes membrane and Functionalized membrane used for the waste water treatment mainly in the radionuclide tracing. In this context, swift heavy ions (SHI) bombardment on the polymeric membrane design the porous membranes having controlled channels dimension using ions of different size, nanoparticles and fluence variation. The effect of SHI on the polymeric membrane creates the reactive sites (free radicals), which are utilized to functionalize for relevant applications. However, this thesis aims to discuss the fabrication of latent track/ nanochannels in polymer membrane and subsequent functionalization for energy applications, especially in fuel cell technology. The thesis consists of seven chapters; in the first chapter, we will discuss a brief introduction of the polymeric membrane, materials like PVDF and its copolymer and their conformations, Radiation-induced grafting (Swift heavy ions). A detailed literature survey has been carried on fuel cell technology and the effect of the SHI on the polymer. In the second chapter, detail of materials, experiments, characterizations technique and measurements are discussed. In third chapter functionalized (sulphonates) the PVDF-HFP polymer membrane using chlorosulphonic acids and measures the DMFCs efficiency. In the fourth chapter of the thesis, swift heavy ions, Sliver ions 120 MeV energy and 5×107 ions /cm2 fluence irradiated PVDF and its nanohybrid film followed by the chemical etching subsequent grafting with the help of the conducting monomer 3-Hexyl thiophene and sulphonation carried out grafted spices make the nanochannel / latent track into conducting nanochannel for the ions transport. Furthermore, the functionalized membrane assembled Fuel cell stack and measure cell efficiency. In the fifth chapter, Silver ions with fluence 1×107 ions/cm2 irradiated on the polymer film followed by the styrene monomer grafting sulphonation subsequently for the purpose of the fuel cell membrane and radionuclide tracing and in the sixth chapter, lithium ions irradiation with two fluences 1×107 and 1×106 ions/cm2 and grafting of the styrene monomer followed by ionic group tagging for low waste radionuclide sensing and finally in the last chapter (seventh) gives significant observations, conclusions and suggestions of the future work.