Aliphatic-aromatic sulphonated polyimide and acid functionalized polysilsesquioxane composite membranes for fuel cell applications

作者：Pandey Ravi P; Shahi Vinod K

来源：Journal of Materials Chemistry A, 2013, 1(45): 14375-14383.

DOI：10.1039/c3ta12755a

For the design of highly stable and proton conductive polymer electrolytemembranes (PEM), we synthesized nucleophillic attack resistant sulphonated polyimide (SPI), in which electron-withdrawing sulphonic acid groups were not directly attached through amino-phenyl rings, using diamines with high basicity and dianhydride with low electron affinity. SPI-sulphonated silica precursor (SSP) composite PEM was assessed for its high water activity (water retention capacity) and direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) applications. SPI/SSP-40 (composite membrane with 40 wt% SSP content) showed 10.25 x 10(-8) cm(2) s(-1) water diffusion coefficient; 1.86 mequiv. per g ion-exchange capacity (IEC); and 6.34 x 10(-2) S cm(-1) proton conductivity. The prepared PEM was classified as water enriched because of the presence of a high percentage of bound water content. A relatively high proton mobility (5.52 x 10(-4) cm(2) s(-1) V-1) across the PEM was attributed to a percolated network of ionic clusters (ions and water). Frictional data confirmed the reduction in frictional coefficient between the proton and membrane matrix at a high SSP content. The reported PEM, especially SPI/SSP-40, were assessed for their suitability for DMFC applications.

• 出版日期2013
• 单位海洋化工研究院有限公司