Special Issue "Polymers for Fuel Cells & Solar Energy"
QuicklinksA special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2012)
Special Issue Editor
Guest Editor
Dr. Michael D. Guiver
National Research Council Canada, 1200 Montreal Road, Ottawa, ON, K1A 0R6, Canada
E-Mail: michael.guiver@nrc-cnrc.gc.ca
Interests: membrane gas separation polymers; fuel cell membranes; polymers of intrinsic microporosity; click chemistry polymers
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Worldwide concern over the consequences of traditional energy usage is driving the development of devices for clean energy conversion such as fuel cells and solar cells. Polymer films and membranes play a central functional role in the efficiency and operation of these devices. Polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM) for the conduction of either protons or hydroxide ions, depending on the fuel cell device, have been extensively studied and improved over the last decade. Design of polymeric materials that address a number of issues including high ionic conduction under reduced humidity conditions, fuel crossover, the balance between water uptake / dimensional stability and proton conduction, chemical stability, the catalyst—PEM interface, ionomer, and fuel cell durability are needed. In organic solar cells, polymers have the advantage of much lower cost compared to silicon devices, and can be manufactured in high volume as printed flexible sheets. Polymeric semiconducting materials that address thermal, chemical, photo-stability and phase separation between n-type and p-type polymers are needed to improve durability. With power conversion efficiencies now approaching ~10%, further improvements in low bandgap polymer solar cells through the control of HOMO-LUMO charge separation will close the gap further with the ~25% conversion efficiencies of silicon-based solar cells.
Dr. Michael Guiver
Guest Editor
Submission
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. Papers will be published continuously (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are refereed through a peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed Open Access quarterly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 500 CHF (Swiss Francs). English correction and/or formatting fees of 250 CHF (Swiss Francs) will be charged in certain cases for those articles accepted for publication that require extensive additional formatting and/or English corrections.
Keywords
- proton exchange
- anion exchange
- membrane
- fuel cell
- proton conduction
- PEMFC
- solar cell
- photovoltaic
- bandgap
- donor-acceptor
Published Papers (7 papers)
 Polymers 2012, 4(2), 1242-1258; doi:10.3390/polym4021242
Received: 16 April 2012; in revised form: 24 May 2012 / Accepted: 4 June 2012 / Published: 11 June 2012
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Polymers 2012, 4(3), 1443-1461; doi:10.3390/polym4031443
Received: 29 June 2012; in revised form: 23 July 2012 / Accepted: 24 July 2012 / Published: 3 August 2012
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Polymers 2012, 4(3), 1499-1516; doi:10.3390/polym4031499
Received: 19 June 2012; in revised form: 1 August 2012 / Accepted: 10 August 2012 / Published: 20 August 2012
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Polymers 2012, 4(3), 1613-1626; doi:10.3390/polym4031613
Received: 2 July 2012; in revised form: 5 September 2012 / Accepted: 10 September 2012 / Published: 20 September 2012
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 Polymers 2012, 4(4), 1627-1644; doi:10.3390/polym4041627
Received: 20 August 2012; in revised form: 25 September 2012 / Accepted: 26 September 2012 / Published: 11 October 2012
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Polymers 2012, 4(4), 1645-1656; doi:10.3390/polym4041645
Received: 16 August 2012; in revised form: 12 November 2012 / Accepted: 13 November 2012 / Published: 20 November 2012
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Polymers 2013, 5(1), 56-76; doi:10.3390/polym5010056
Received: 3 December 2012 / Accepted: 9 January 2013 / Published: 21 January 2013
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Planned Papers
The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.
Title: Modeling and Simulation for Fuel Cell Polymer Electrolyte Membrane
Authors: Kei Morohoshi et al.
Affiliation: Advanced Material Engineering Div., Toyota Motor Corporation, 1200, Mishuku, Susono, Shizuoka, 410-1193 Japan; E-Mail: kei@morohoshi.tec.toyota.co.jp
Abstract: Efficient process for polymer design has been investigated by using molecular simulation, which enables to evaluate a lot of physical properties demanded for commercial materials. In order to apply to fuel cell polymer electrolyte membrane, we developed molecular models to estimate proton conductivity, gas permeability and mechanical strength for polyelectrolyte membrane. Coarse-grained models used made it possible to reproduce experimental results and also to evaluate membranes with various molecular structure in a relatively short time.
Type of Paper: Article
Title: Recent Advances in Partially Fluorinated Membranes for Fuel Cell and Photovoltaic Applications
Authors: Etienne Labalme, Benjamin Campagne, Guillaume Couture, Ghislain David and Bruno Ameduri
Affiliation: Equipe Ingénierie et Architecture Macromoléculaires, Institut Charles Gerhardt UMR CNRS 5253, Ecole Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier, 8 rue de l’Ecole Normale, 34296 Montpellier Cedex 5, France; E-Mail: bruno.ameduri@enscm.fr
Abstract: This book-chapter reports the synthesis of partially fluorinated membranes bearing ionic function as charge carrier for fuel cell applications. Two strategies have been selected:
(i) The first one consisted in synthesizing homogeneous membranes with the functionalized fluorocopolymer directly;
(ii) The second one dealt with blending the functionalized fluorocopolymer with a complementary functionalized polymer that brings mechanical properties and charge carrier excess (i.e. proton excess for PEM fuel cell membranes).
Title: Ion-Conducting Membranes from Block Copolymers for Fuel Cell Applications
Authors: Jochen Meier-Haack and Claus Vogel
Affiliation: Leibniz-Institute für Polymerforschung Dresden e.V., Membrane Group, Hohe Straße 6, 01069 Dresden; E-Mail: mhaack@ipfdd.de
Abstract: Operation temperatures above 100°C are requested for fuel cells in automotive applications. This requirement is up to now not fulfilled by perfluorosulfonic acids like Nafion. Therefore membrane materials based on hydrocarbon polymers, especially aromatic and heteroaromatic polymers, are considered as promising alternatives. This paper reviews the recent advances in the development of sulfonated and phosphonated hydrocarbon membranes for fuel cell application with focus on block copolymers. It is expected that a phase separated morphology is more readily formed than in membranes prepared from random copolymers and which has a positive impact on mechanical as well as conductive properties of the resulting membranes.
Author: Takashi Okubo
Affiliation: Kinki University,3-4-1 Kowakae, Higashi-Osaka City, Osaka 577-8502, Japan; E-Mail: okubo_t@chem.kindai.ac.jp
Abstract: One-dimensional halide-bridged Cu(I)-Ni(II) heterometal coordination polymers including hexamethylene-dithiocarbamate (Hm-dtc) ligand have been synthesized and crystallographically characterized. The electronic states were investigated with UV-Vis-NIR and photoelectron spectrometry. In addition, the coordination polymers were applied for sensitizing materials of dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs).
Type of Paper: Review
Author: Jiann-Tsuen Lin
Title: Recent Progress in Ternary Organic Solar Cells
Affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, National Taiwan University, Taiwan; E-Mail: jtlin@chem.sinica.edu.tw
Abstract: Organic solar cells have been considered a promising renewable energy source due to their economical fabrication processes, large area manufacture and flexibility, and a high power conversion efficiency of >7% has been achieved. Compared to traditional two components systems, the energy level and absorption range can be more conveniently tuned by introduction of additional component in the active materials. This article reviews the recent progress on ternary organic solar cells including organic material/organic material/functional fullerene, organic material/functional fullerene I/functional fullerene II, and organic material/quantum dot/functional fullerene systems. Besides materials, variation of device configuration will be also briefly reviewed.
Title: Versatility and Applications of a Wide Range of Polymers in Dye-sensitized Solar Cells
Affiliation: Laboratory of Nanotechnology and Solar Energy, Institute of Chemistry, University of Campinas - UNICAMP, 13083-970, Campinas SP, Brazil; E-Mail: anaflavia@iqm.unicamp.br
Abstract: This article presents an overview of the use of a wide range of polymers in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). Different polymeric structures can be employed in several components in these kind of devices. Each part or component performs an important role in the mechanism of energy conversion and device stability. Herein, we demonstrate the advantages of using such versatile and functional polymer materials in DSSC as gel or solid electrolytes in replacement of liquid electrolytes, light absorber in semiconductor metal oxide sensitization and as flexible materials for counter electrodes. This review also includes the recent advances and future challenges of using this type of material in energy conversion devices.
Type of Paper: Review
Title: Design and Synthesis of Cross-Linked Copolymer Membranes Based on Poly(benzoxazine) and Polybenzimidazole and their application to Electrolyte Membrane for High Temperature PEM Fuel Cell
Author: Hyuk Chang, et al.
Affiliation: Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, SAIT, Mt. 14-1, Nongseo-dong, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si Gyeonggi-do, Korea; E-Mail: hyuk.chang@samsung.com
Abstract: Elevated temperature (100~200oC) polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells have many features such as high efficiency and simple system design that make them ideal for residential micro combined heat and power system and power source for fuel cell electric vehicles. A proton conducting solid electrolyte membrane having high conductivity and durability at elevated temperatures is essential, and phosphoric acid containing polymeric material synthesized from cross-linked Poly(benzoxazine) has demonstrated fulfilled characteristics. This paper reviews the design rules, synthesis schemes, and characteristics of this unique polymeric material. Additionally, the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) utilizing this polymer membrane has been evaluated in terms of power density and life cycle by in situ accelerated lifetime test mode. This paper also covers in-depth discussion from polymer material design to the cell performance in the view of commercial level requirements.
Type of Paper: Article
Title: Influence of Ionomer/Carbon Ratio in the Performance of Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell
Authors: Mika Eguchi, Koki Baba, Takamitsu Onuma, Kazuma Yoshida, Kenta Iwasawa, Yoshio Kobayashi, Katsuhiro Uno, Keishiro Komatsu, Maya Kobori, Mikka Nishitani-Gamo andToshihiro Ando
Affiliation: Department of Biomolecular Functional Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ibaraki University, Nakanarusawa 4-12-1, Hitachi, Ibaraki, 316-8511, Japan; E-Mail: eguchi@mx.ibaraki.ac.jp
Abstract: The ionomer (electrolyte-cum-binder formed solid polymer) was researched in the past that is known there are best quantitative ratio between ionomer and carbon for catalyst supported. The Marimo Carbon is a kind of a materials consisting of fiber shaped nano carbon called carbon nanofilaments. It formed combine that carbon nanofibers grew up from Ni which supported on oxidation diamond. There are enough spaces between fibers, it might be seen as more advantageous than existing catalyst supported at many discharge of general water and gas diffusion in high current density area. In this work, we have examined influence of ionomer/carbon ratio when our original carbon material "the Marimo Carbon" used in catalyst supported for PEFCs.
Last update: 12 June 2012