Montmorillonitenanocomposite–Polybenzimidazole containing ether units for high temperature proton exchange membrane with electric field-aligned domains for proton transport

Zhaonan Sun; Fanghui Wang; Kefei Han; Hong Zhu

Open Conference Systems, International Conference on Electrochemical Energy and Technology

Zhaonan Sun, Fanghui Wang, Kefei Han, Hong Zhu

Last modified: 2014-10-08

Abstract

Abstract:Fuel Cells areclear, high effective and renewable, which has become a new research area. Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) have received significant attention as a promising candidate for efficient and none-emission power in portable devices, stationary and transport power supply. While,improved the temperature of PEMFCs can enhance CO tolerance, shorten water management, increase the working efficiency, so, Hightemperature polymer electrolyte membranes fuel cells（HT-PEMFCs）are born at the current environment.In our study,in order to improve the conductivity of high temperature proton exchange membranes (HTPEM), Montmorillonite (MMT) was added to the Polybenzimidazole containing ether units(PBI-O) based membrane, and an external AC electric field was applied to the MMT-PBI-O-based composite membranes casting solution during solvent evaporation.Montmorillonite is a nanocompositeimbued with H⁺. The introduction of MMT nanocomposite in HTPEM significantly improved the conductivity without changing the electrochemical/chemical stability, water uptake, dimensional stability and mechanical properties of hybrid membranes. According to XRD, 5-wt% MMT was the best content in the composite membranes. The conductivity of 5%MMT-PBI-Ocomposite membraneswereimproved nearly 400% compared to the pure PBI-O membranes.And, that is to say, the present technique is a potentially useful method for fabricating HT-PEM with oriented MMTnanocomposite taking full advantage of the bulk conductivity of the MMTnanocomposite.

Keywords

Montmorillonitenanocomposite;Polybenzimidazole containing ether units;AC electric field

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