Emerging chitosan and cellulose green materials for ion exchange membrane fuel cell: a review

Abstract

Polymer electrolyte fuel cell is an attractive type of fuel cell, which has proved to be an interesting area for further investigation. This is due to several advantages such as minimal risk of electrolyte leakage, short warm-up time (due to moderate operating temperature) and high power density. Over the last decades, a substantial progress has been made to improve the performance and durability of the cell while working on strategies to reduce its cost of fabrication. These objectives are achieved through the development of a natural biopolymer-based ion exchange membrane. Chitosan and cellulose have demonstrated an outstanding potential due to their excellent thermal and mechanical properties, good water retention ability, low reactants permeability, biodegradability and renewability. These characteristics are essential for a high-performance membrane. Therefore, several modifications for chitosan and cellulose were studied to further improve its properties and enhance its performance. Hence, this paper aims to comprehensively review the current development of membrane fabrication which utilizes green materials like chitosan and cellulose. Besides that, the influence of these materials toward improving the membrane properties and performance for ion exchange membrane fuel cell applications are also reviewed. We hope that this perspective will be able to provide useful interpretations for the development of the next generation of polymer electrolyte membrane in fuel cell applications.