Preparation of Nafion-sulfonated clay nanocomposite membrane for direct menthol fuel cells via a film coating process

Nafion sulfonated clay nanocomposite membranes were successfully produced via a film coating process using a pilot coating machine. For producing the composite membranes, we optimized the solvent ratio of N-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone (NMP) to N,N′-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), the amount of sulfonated montmorillonite (S-MMT) in composite membranes and the overall concentration of composite dispersions. Based on the optimized viscosity and composition, the composite dispersions were coated on a poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) substrate film. The distance between a metering roll and a PET film and the ratio of metering roll speed versus coating roll speed of the pilot coating machine were varied to control membrane thickness. The film coated composite membrane exhibited enhanced properties in the swelling behavior against MeOH solution, ion conductivity and MeOH permeability, compared to the cast Nafion composite membrane due to the higher dispersion state of S-MMT in Nafion matrix and the uniform distribution of small-size ion clusters. These properties influenced a cell performance test of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), showing the film coated composite membrane had a higher power density than that of Nafion 115. The power density was also related with the higher selectivity of the composite membrane than Nafion 115.