Vinothkannan Mohanraj

Coventry University | CU

Nafion, a perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymer, is a vital electrolyte that extensively contributes to the commercialization of polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs). However, adopting Nafion in high-temperature (HT) PEFCs (HT-PEFCs) is still a great challenge. Herein, we present a potential additive (carbon nitride-gadolinium zirconium oxide (gC...

Development of a high-performance and durable proton exchange membrane (PEM) for low relative humidity (RH) operation is imperative for further commercialization of hydrogen-air fuel cell (HAFC). In this work, we reported the synthesize of carbon nanotubes-unzipped carbon nanotubes (CNTs-UCNTs) hybrid via calcination process with ammonium fluoride....

Nafion, a perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymer, is a key electrolyte that has contributed to commercialization of hydrogen-air fuel cells (HAFCs). However, adoption of Nafion membranes in high-temperature (HT) HAFCs remains an unsolved challenge. In this work, sulfonic acid-functionalized, unzipped graphite nanofiber (SO3H-UGNF) is explored as a p...

Cerium oxide–anchored titanium carbide (CeO2-TiC) is realized as a potential inorganic filler when modifying the Nafion matrix of proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). A hydrothermal strategy was employed to synthesize CeO2-TiC of high crystallinity as filler to mitigate problematic properties of proton-exchange membrane (PEM). CeO2-TiC with...

Cerium oxide anchored amine-functionalized carbon nanotubes (CeO2-ACNTs) are applied as radical scavengers as well as solid proton conductors to realize hybrid with Nafion (Nafion/CeO2-ACNTs) for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) operating at low relative humidity (RH). Reinforcement due to the existence of ACNTs offers good mechanical str...

Hydrogen is envisaged to play a major role in decarbonizing our future energy systems. Hydrogen is ideal for storing renewable energy over longer durations, strengthening energy security. It can be used to provide electricity, renewable heat, power long-haul transport, shipping, and aviation, and in decarbonizing several industrial processes. The c...

Low-cost, durable, and high-performance membranes are urgent requirements for zinc bromine redox flow battery (ZBFB) applications. Sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone), SPEEK is a low-cost, ion-exchange membrane with excellent ionic conductivity, but its backbone is susceptible to the harsh bromine environment. Herein, the successful incorporation...

Giron Rodriguez et al. [ ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. , 2023, 11 , 1508] previously showed that radiation-grafted anion-exchange membranes containing N -benzyl- N -methylpiperidinium headgroups (MPIP-RG-AEM) are promising for use in CO 2 electrolysis ( cf. commercial...

The phenylsulfonic-acid functionalized, and unzipped graphite nanofiber (SO3H-UGNF) was studied as a potential proton-conductive material to embed in a sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) to create proton exchange membrane (PEM) for polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) working under low relative humidity (RH). First, we used ammonium fluor...

Herein, we describe the incorporation of cerium oxide‐coated amine‐functionalized titania nanorods (CeO2‐ATiO2) as a bifunctional nanofiller in sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) as a cost‐effective and high‐performance proton exchange membrane (PEM) for PEM fuel cells (PEMFCs). Facile and effective functionalization of TiO2 was performed...

In this work, sulfonated diblock copolymers (SDBCs) were prepared by polycondensation of sulfonated poly(ether-ether-ketone) (SPEEK) and hydrophobic oligomer, which were combined with sintered anatase titanium oxide (S-An-TiO2) to create a hybrid membrane for apply in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) operating with low relative humidity...

Herein, a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) equipped with phosphoric acid-doped polybenzimidazole (PA-PBI) membrane was exploited to determine the effects of changing type and stoichiometry of feed gas at operating temperature from 120 to 160 °C. Results show that maximum power density of proposed system increases as increasing temperature...

The development of potential and novel proton exchange membranes (PEMs) is imperative for the further commercialization of PEM fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this work, phosphotungstic acid (PWA) and graphene oxide (GO) were integrated into sulfonated poly(arylene ether) (SPAE) through a solution casting approach to create a potential composite membrane f...

Constructing more active and durable trifunctional electrocatalysts is key for boosting overall water splitting and metal–air battery efficiency. Herein, we developed a trifunctional electrocatalyst of ultrafine Pt nanoparticles anchored on CoS2-N-doped reduced graphene oxide ([email protected]2-NrGO). Owing to its more Pt active sites with rapid i...

Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have received great attention as a potential alternative energy device for internal combustion engines due to their high conversion efficiency compared to other fuel cells. The main hindrance for the wide commercial adoption of PEMFCs is the high cost, low proton conductivity, and high fuel permeability...

We designed and synthesized a series of sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPES) with different hydrophilic or hydrophobic oligomer ratios using poly-condensation strategy. Afterward, we fabricated the corresponding membranes via a solution-casting approach. We verified the SPES membrane chemical structure using nuclear magnetic resonance (1H...

Emerging demands for the highly active, durable, and cost-effective trifunctional catalysts for overall water splitting and metal–air batteries in the scientific community. Herein, a novel strategy is demonstrated for the rational design of hierarchical iron cobalt molybdenum sulfide nanoflower encapsulated in nitrogen doped graphene ([email protec...

A series of sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) block copolymers with aliphatic chains (SPAES-LA) to lend structural flexibility in the polymer backbone have been synthesized to prepare proton exchange membranes (PEMs) showing improved electrochemical performance and dimensional/oxidative stabilities. The SPAES-LAs, bearing different hydrophilic...

The anion exchange membrane may have different physical and chemical properties, electrochemical performance and mechanical stability depending upon the monomer structure, hydrophilicity and hydrophobic repeating unit, surface form and degree of substitution of functional groups. In current work, poly(arylene ether sulfone) (PAES) block copolymer w...

Amine functionalized carbon nanotube (ANCT) is applied as an inorganic potential proton conducting material embedded in a sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) matrix. The morphological, structural, thermomechanical, physiochemical and electrochemical properties of SPEEK/ACNT composite were investigated and compared to obtained results from b...

Tremendous developments in energy storage and conversion technologies urges researchers to develop inexpensive, greatly efficient, durable and metal-free electrocatalysts for tri-functional electrochemical reactions, namely oxygen reduction reactions (ORRs), oxygen evolution reactions (OERs) and hydrogen evolution reactions (HERs). In these regards...

Sulfonated poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (SPVdF-HFP)/sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) hybrid membrane was prepared via solution casting process. Incorporation of SGO nanosheets into SPVdF-HFP matrix increases the density of sulfonic acid moieties of hybrid membrane. This offer better water uptake, good proton conductivity, than p...

Herein, the ultrafine bimetallic alloy supported on nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide (PtCu/NrGO) has been developed via wet-reflux strategy and applied as potential catalyst for electro-oxidation of liquid fuels in direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs). Possible conversion to PtCu/NrGO from the precursor materials was established in detail using t...

In this study, magnetite nanorods stabilized on polyaniline/reduced graphene oxide (Fe3O4@PANI/rGO) was synthesized via a wet‐reflux strategy. The possible formation of Fe3O4@PANI/rGO was morphologically and structurally verified by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE‐SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FT‐IR) spectroscopy, Raman spectros...

Direct alcohol fuel cells (DAFCs) play a pivotal role in synthesis of catalysts due to their low cost, high catalytic activity, and long durability in half-cell reactions, which include anode (alcohol oxidation) and cathode (oxygen reduction) reactions. However, platinum catalysts suffer from CO tolerance, which affects their stability. The present...

In this contribution, sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) is inter-connected using a hydrophobic oligomer via poly-condensation reaction to produce SPEEK analogues as PEMs. Prior sulfonation is performed for SPEEK to avoid random sulfonation of multi-block copolymers that may destroy the mechanical toughness of polymer backbone. A greater l...

A hybrid nanofibrous mat consisting of polyurethane, dextran, and 10 wt % of biopigment (i.e., pyocyanin) was facilely fabricated using a direct-conventional electrospinning method. The field emission scanning electron microscopy showed the bead-free fibers with a twisted morphology for the pyocyanin-loaded mat. The addition of pyocyanin enables th...

The organic/inorganic hybrid membranes consisting of different concentrations of phosphotungstic acid (PWA) in sulfonated poly ether sulfone (SPES) were constructed for the usage as electrolyte in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The repulsion applied between the hydrophilic moieties of host and guest components resulted in the porosit...

In this article, we report a wet reflux strategy for the synthesis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/polyaniline (PANI)/Pt-Pd composite, which was exploited as a potential anode catalyst with enhanced methanol oxidation capacity for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). The construction of rGO/PANI/Pt-Pd involves two steps such as synthesis of PANI on...

A sulfonated fluorinated block copolymer (SFBC) consisting of sulfone and ether bridges was synthesized via nucleophilic substitution polymerization, and then incorporated with 10, 20 or 30 wt% of phosphotungstic acid (PWA) using facile solution casting approach to fabricate composite membranes. The monomer sulfonation was carried out for SFBC to a...

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) is pivotal in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with enhanced power performances. We reported a sulfonated (poly ether sulfone) (SPES) and sulfonated polyvinylidene fluoride‐co‐hexafluoro propylene (SPVdF‐HFP) blend membrane for the PEMFC. We fabricated the SPES/SPVdF‐HFP blend membrane via a simple sol...

Platinum nanoparticles (Pt NPs) was synthesized via a facile and cost competitive ont-pot green mediated synthesis using cell free cultural filtrate (microgravity simulated grown Penicillium chrysogenum) as a reducing agent. The toxicity effect of synthesized Pt NPs toward myoblast C2C12 carcinoma cells was then investigated. The particle size anal...

A ternary hybrid membrane architecture consisting of sulfonated fluorinated multi-block copolymer (SFMC), sulfonated (poly ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) and 1 or 5 wt% graphene oxide (GO) was fabricated through a facile solution casting approach. The simple, but effective monomer sulfonation was performed for SFMC to create compact and rigid hydropho...

Nano‐hybrid membranes made up using sulfonated (poly‐arylene ether ketone) (SPAEK) and sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) with various weight ratio i.e., 0.5, 1 and/or 1.5 wt % were fabricated with a traditional solvent casting approach and their appropriateness for the potential application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) was probed....

Iron oxide (Fe3O4) nanoparticles anchored over sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) and Nafion/Fe3O4–SGO composites were fabricated and applied as potential proton exchange membranes in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) operated at high temperature and low humidity. Fe3O4 nanoparticles bridge SGO and Nafion through electrostatic interaction/h...

Iron oxide (Fe3O4) anchored functionalized graphene oxide (FGO) is applied as a magnetically active filler as well as a solid proton conductor to realize an aligned hybrid membrane architecture with blended polymer matrix consisting of fluorinated poly arylene propane biphenyl (FPAPB) and sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) for application i...

The composite membranes composed of sulfonated fluorinated block copolymer (SFBC-50) having the degree of sulfonation (DS) of 50% and 3, 6, 9, 12 or 15 wt% functionalized silica (FSiO2) were prepared by facile solution casting method. SFBC-50 was synthesized via nucleophilic substitution polymerization reaction, where the hydrophilic units are di-s...

A sulfonated-fluorinated, hydrophilic-hydrophobic copolymer was designed and subsequently synthesized using typical nucleophilic aromatic polycondensation. Facile solution casting was then used to develop blend membranes comprised of sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK). The monomer sulfonation was carried out for the copolymers while PEEK...

Ternary hybrid membranes composed of sulfonated (poly ether ether ketone) (SPEEK), sulfonated polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (SPVdF-HFP) and 1, 3, 5 or 7 wt% graphene oxide (GO) were fabricated using a facile solution casting method. The reinforcement due to the existence of SPVdF-HFP and GO afforded good mechanical and thermal stab...

A SO3H-functionalized graphene oxide-incorporated sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (S-GO/SPEEK) composite membrane was fabricated via the solution casting method, and the performance of the prepared membrane toward proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) electricity generation was evaluated. Infrared spectroscopic measurements revealed the p...