Title: Chitosan Membranes Developed for a Biomimetic Saltwater Cell

Authors: Andrew T. Jester, Ross A. Lee, Pritpal Singh

DOI: 10.33599/nasampe/s.24.0192

Abstract: As the demand for energy storage technologies increases, the materials sustainability for components within these devices will become more prevalent. Electrocytes in the electric eel can serve as a more sustainable design template for developing ion-selective membranes for energy storage applications. Within biological cells, an electrochemical gradient across the cell membrane forms the membrane potential, which serves as the driving force for ion transport across the membrane like the cycling of a battery cell. In this work, a chitosan membrane was developed for 〖Na〗^+ transport in a saltwater cell to mimic this natural phenomenon. In comparison to a petrochemical-based film (i.e., 〖Na〗^+-Form Nafion-117), the chitosan membrane exhibited higher ionic conductivity and similar cation-selectivity, which resulted in better performance of the electrochemical cell based on membrane potential, as well as typical battery characteristics such as energy storage capacity. These results serve as an example for leveraging nature’s materials and inspiration to solve tangible engineering problems and further the development of more sustainable energy storage devices to replace certain incumbent technologies.

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Conference: SAMPE 2024

Publication Date: 2024/05/20

SKU: TP24-0000000192

Pages: 14

Price: $28.00