Publications

A novel class of alk. anion exchange membrane (AAEM) is presented, in the form of KOH-modified multilayer graphene oxide paper (GOKOH). Such membranes can be easily fabricated at large scale with varying thickness using conventional filtration techniques, and have high tensile strength (24.5 MPa). However, a large degree of swelling is observed SEM investigations show that the morphol. of GO changes after KOH-treatment, while XPS measurements and XRD anal. confirm successful chem. modification. The hydrogen gas permeability is several orders of magnitude lower than conventional polymer-based ionomer membranes. The maximum anion conductivity is 6.1 mS/cm at 70°, and the dominant charge carrier is confirmed to be OH- by utilization of anion and proton-conducting blocking layers. The ion exchange capacity is 6.1 mmol/g, measured by titration A water-mediated reverse Grotthuss-like mechanism is proposed as the main diffusion mode of OH- ions. Finally, a prototype AAEM fuel cell is fabricated using a GOKOH membrane, confirming the applicability to real systems.