Membrane Polymer Synthesis

About

Our goal is to develop chemically stable and highly cation- and anion-conductive polymers (ionomers) and membranes for the application in electrochemical energy conversion processes such as:

Low-Temperature fuel cells (H2-PEMFC, direct alcohol fuel cells such as direct-methanol-fuel cells DMFC or isopropanol/ acetone fuel cells DIFC)
High-Temperature fuel cells (HT-H2-PEMFC and HT-direct fuel-PEMFC)
Electrolysers such as LT-PEMWE and HT-PEMWE, Redox-flow batteries (RFB) such as Vanadium-RFB and iron-chrome RFB
Alkaline fuel cells and alkaline electrolysis

Research Topics

The types of polymers under investigation include polymers with the following backbones:

perfluorinated, partially fluorinated and nonfluorinated hydrocarbons
nonfluorinated and partially fluorinated aromatics (polyethers, polysulfones, polyphenylenes, etc.)

From these polymers, different membrane types are made, including:

Ionically and/or covalently cross-linked (blend) membranes
Reinforced (blend) membranes with porous reinforcements such as electrospun fiber mats or stretched polymer foils
Hybrid membranes with inorganic nanoparticle fillings

Contact

Dr. rer. nat. Jochen Kerres

IET-2

Building HIERN-Cauerstr / Room 3008

+49 9131-12538121

E-Mail

Members

Research

Polymer Synthesis

Polymer development involves both the synthesis and modification of polymers to obtain ion-conducting polymers (ionomers).

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Membrane Development

By using ionic and/or covalent crosslinking of ionomers, the final membrane properties can be tailored to the subsequent application.

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Membrane Processing Methods

Various methods are applied in our team for membrane and membrane-electrode assembly processing.

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Polymer development involves both the synthesis and modification of polymers to obtain ion-conducting polymers (ionomers).

More

Publications

Recent publications (years 2018-2024) in peer-reviewed international journals

High-performance polybenzimidazole blend membranes based on a commercially available anion-exchange polymer and F6PBI for vanadium redox flow batteries. J. Stonawski, M. Schroeder, J. Gördes, L. Hager, A. Hutzler, T. Böhm, S. Thiele, J. Kerres, Journal of Applied Polymer Science 2024.

Synthesis and Characterization of Novel Perfluoro Aromatic Side Chain Sulfonated PSU Ionomers. P. Martschin, V. Atanasov, S. Thiele, J. Kerres, ACS Polymers Au 2024.

Sulfonamide-Sulfonimide Copolymers as Novel, Fluorine-Lean Type of Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cell Application. L. Brinke, M. Wagner, S. Thiele, J. Kerres, Chemistry - A European Journal 2024.

Nanostructured proton-exchange membranes from self-cross-linking perfluoroalkyl-free block-co-polymers. S. Auffarth, M. Maier, P. Martschin, T. Stigler, M. Wagner, T. Böhm, A. Hutzler, S. Thiele, J. Kerres, Materials Today Advances 2024.

Modification of Phosphonated Poly(pentafluorostyrene) toward Ductile Membranes for Electrochemical Applications. T. Stigler, M. Wagner, S. Thiele, J. Kerres, Macromolecules 2024.

Electrospun phosphonated poly(pentafluorostyrene) nanofibers as a reinforcement of Nafion membranes for fuel cell application. M. Mu'min, M. Komma, D. Abbas, M. Wagner, A. Krieger, S. Thiele, T. Böhm, J. Kerres, Journal of Membrane Science 2023.

Nanophase-Separated Block-co-Polymers Based on Phosphonated Pentafluorostyrene and Octylstyrene for Proton-Exchange Membranes. S. Auffarth, M. Wagner, A. Krieger, B. Fritsch, L. Hager, A. Hutzler, T. Böhm, S. Thiele, J. Kerres, ACS Materials Letters 2023.

Novel side chain functionalized polystyrene/O-PBI blends with high alkaline stability for anion exchange membrane water electrolysis. L. Hager, M. Hegelheimer, J. Stonawski, A. Freiberg, C. Jaramillo-Hernández, G. Abellán, A. Hutzler, T. Böhm, S. Thiele, J. Kerres, Journal of Materials Chemistry A 2023.

Cross-linked proton-exchange membranes with strongly reduced fuel crossover and increased chemical stability for direct-isopropanol fuel cells. S. Auffarth, W. Dafinger, J. Mehler, V. Ardizzon, P. Preuster, P. Wasserscheid. S. Thiele, J.Kerres, Journal of Material Chemistry A 2022.

Protonated phosphonic acid electrodes for high power heavy-duty vehicle fuel cells. Katie H. Lim, Albert S. Lee, Vladimir Atanasov, Jochen Kerres, Eun Joo Park, Santosh Adhikari, Sandip Maurya, Luis Delfin Manriquez, Jiyoon Jung, Cy Fujimoto, Ivana Matanovic, Jasna Jankovic, Zhendong Hu, Hongfei Jia & Yu Seung Kim, Nature Energy 2022.

All publications of J. Kerres (research papers, reviews, book chapters, patents, patent applications, Google Scholar)

News

November 17th, 2021	Book chapter on the ex-situ and in-situ characterization methods of ion exchange membranes for redox-flow batteries for the book Redox-flow Batteries (publisher Wiley-VCH, editors: Maria Skyllas-Kazacos, Jens Noack, Christina Roth) finally accepted
October 25th, 2021	Paper on the application of phosphonated poly(pentafluorostyrene)/Nafion blends as electrode ionomer in HT fuel cells (joint work with Y. S. Kim, A. S. Lee et al., Los Alamos Natl. Lab, J. Jung, KIST, Seoul, C. Fujimoto, Sandia Natl. Lab, I. Matanovic, Univ. New Mexico, J. Jankovic, Univ. Connecticut, H. Jia et al, Toyota Res. Inst. North America, and V. Atanasov, Univ. Stuttgart, Inst. Chem. Proc. Eng.) accepted by Nature Energy
October 3rd, 2021	Article on the development of block co-ionomers and acid-base blend membranes for PEM water electrolysis (joint work with J. Bender (University of Stuttgart, Inst. Chem. Process Engineering), P. Trinke, B. Bensmann and R. Hanke-Rauschenbach (University of Hanover, Inst. Electrical Energy Systems)) accepted by Polymers
September 1^st, 2021	Anja Krieger starts as a new scientist in our team. Linus Hager starts as a new PhD student in our team
July 1^st, 2021	Theresa Stigler starts as a new PhD student in our team
April 1^st, 2021	Muhammed Mumin Solihul continues his PhD in our team
October 1^st, 2020	Julian Stonawski and Sebastian Auffarth start as new PhD students in our team
September 1^st, 2020	Maximilian Wagner starts as new scientist in our team
July 16^th, 2020	Paper on the application of phosphonated poly(pentafluorostyrene) as electrode ionomer in HT fuel cells (joint work with Y. S. Kim, Los Alamos Natl. Lab and V. Atanasov, Univ. Stuttgart, Inst. Chem. Proc. Eng.) accepted by Nature Materials
April 9^th, 2020	Paper on the development and Vanadium redox flow battery application of a novel poly(pentafluorostyrene)-based anion-exchange polymer-PBI blend membrane (joint work with H. Cho and V. Atanasov, Univ. Stuttgart, Inst. Chem. Proc. Eng.) accepted by Polymers
April 1^st, 2020	Philipp Martschin starts as a new PhD student in our team

Last Modified: 25.10.2024