Advanced Membranes for Fuel Cells and Redox Flow Batteries: 2nd Edition

A special issue of Membranes (ISSN 2077-0375). This special issue belongs to the section "Membrane Applications for Energy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2026 | Viewed by 1195

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School of Electrical Engineering and Automation, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin 150001, China
Interests: fuel cells; ion exchange membrane; degradation prediction; energy storage
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Dear Colleagues,

Renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, have shown great promise in relieving the worldwide dependence on fossil fuels, thereby achieving a low-carbon society. However, the intermittent nature of renewables has caused unpredictable matching between electricity supply and demand, leading to unstable and inconsistent power delivery. Thus, energy storage technologies are needed to address the challenges that come with integrating renewable energy into the power grid. Ion exchange membranes/polymer electrolytes are very important components in fuel cells and redox flow batteries, as they are responsible for ion selection and transport to react in the electrode. Fuel cells and redox flow batteries based on polymer electrolyte membranes (PEMs) play important roles in applications, such as power sources for portable electronics, distributed power generation, and electric vehicles. A good PEM must present high proton conductivity, low crossover, high selectivity, excellent mechanical strength, and mechanical, chemical, and electrochemical stability. The membrane not only affects the whole cyclability performance but also determines the economic viability of the system. Additionally, increasing customer demands for environmentally friendly membrane products has prompted scientists to search for facile, low-cost, and green production routes for novel membrane-based devices.

This Special Issue, "Advanced Membranes for Fuel Cells and Redox Flow Batteries: 2nd Edition”, will be a perfect forum to bring together the latest results obtained by key laboratories focused on membranes and membrane materials with applications in related research and development, including the synthesis, characterization, and applications of membranes.

Dr. Chuanyu Sun
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • fuel cell
  • redox flow battery
  • proton-exchange membranes
  • cation-exchange membranes
  • anion-exchange membranes
  • porous membranes
  • amphoteric membranes

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

19 pages, 1276 KB  
Article
Sulfonated Graphene Oxide Doped Imidazolium-Functionalized PVDF Ion Exchange Membrane with Enhanced Ion Conductivity
by Jiangtao Yu, Wenkang Li, Wei Niu, Manman Zhang, Junqing Bai, Pengtao Li, Liang Wang, Yuqing Cui, Shuanfang Cui, Xueyan Que, Jun Ma and Long Zhao
Membranes 2026, 16(2), 55; https://doi.org/10.3390/membranes16020055 - 31 Jan 2026
Viewed by 868
Abstract
A novel membrane was synthesized in this work by grafting 1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C2VIm][BF4]) onto a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) backbone, followed by the introduction of a sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) dispersion into the polymer solution. This composite was transformed into [...] Read more.
A novel membrane was synthesized in this work by grafting 1-vinyl-3-ethylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ([C2VIm][BF4]) onto a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) backbone, followed by the introduction of a sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) dispersion into the polymer solution. This composite was transformed into a composite proton-conducting membrane via a solution casting process and subsequently underwent protonation. Successful grafting was confirmed using analytical techniques including Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), 1H Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). Scanning Electron Microscopy with Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) analysis verified the homogeneous distribution of the SGO filler. Analysis reveals that incorporating SGO as a filler substantially augments the performance of anion exchange membranes. Key enhancements include a tensile strength increase to 37.97 MPa, water uptake of 10.34%, an ion exchange capacity of 1.68 mmol/g, and the through-plane proton conductivity of 15.47 mS/cm. While vanadium permeability rose marginally to 2.02 × 10−7 cm2/min, it remains drastically lower than that of Nafion 115. The composite proton-conducting membrane also displayed robust chemical stability. The membrane was finally integrated into a vanadium redox flow battery (VRFB) for performance evaluation. At a current density of 100 mA/cm2, it exhibits a satisfactory coulombic efficiency (CE) of 97.84%, excellent capacity retention, and superior cycling stability. These results demonstrate that the PVDF-g-IL/SGO-based composite proton-conducting membrane is an ideal candidate material for vanadium flow battery applications. Full article
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