Propylene carbonate-derived size modulation of water cluster in pore-filled Nafion/polypropylene composite membrane for the use in vanadium redox flow batteries

There is an increasing need to develop an alternative to Nafion membrane in order to reduce the cost of vanadium redox flow batteries. Pore-filled composite membranes based on Nafion is one way to reduce the amount of costly material, however its chronic problem is low conductivity and water uptake ability. We suggest a novel approach to enhance the conductivity and water uptake by incorporating propylene carbonate to modulate water channel morphologies in Nafion directly. We present a pore-filled type Nafion composite membrane to prove the effect of PC addition. Small-angle X-ray scattering and simulation results are suggested for further understanding.