Tailor‐made phosphorylated polyvinyl alcohol/tungsten polyoxometalate proton exchange membrane for a bio‐electrochemical energy storage system

Abstract

In this work, the synthesis of a phosphorylated polyvinyl alcohol (p‐PVA)/polyoxometalate (tungsto‐phosphate) membrane for the BioGenerator, a bio‐electrochemical energy storage technology, is reported. It was shown that bonding of lacunary tungsto‐phosphate ions to the carbon skeleton of a polymer matrix results in an increase in proton conductivity of up to 2.7 times, compared to previously studied phosphorylated PVA membranes. Testing of the membrane in an actual Fe3+/H2 electrochemical cell showed that it performs significantly better (0.28 W∙cm−2 at 0.79 A∙cm−2) than the previously used commercial Selemion HSF (Japan) membrane (0.18 W∙cm−2 at 0.60 A∙cm−2).