Novel epoxy-based cross-linked polybenzimidazole for high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells

  • Shuang Wang
  • , Gang Zhang
  • , Miaomiao Han
  • , Hongtao Li
  • , Yang Zhang
  • , Jing Ni
  • , Wenjia Ma
  • , Mingyu Li
  • , Jing Wang
  • , Zhongguo Liu
  • , Liyuan Zhang
  • , Hui Na

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

103 Scopus citations

Abstract

An approach has been proposed to prepare the reinforced phosphoric acid (PA) doped cross-linked polybenzimidazole membranes for high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs), using 1,3-bis(2,3-epoxypropoxy)-2,2- dimethylpropane (NGDE) as the cross-linker. FT-IR measurement and solubility test showed the successful completion of the crosslinking reaction. The resulting cross-linked membranes exhibited improved mechanical strength, making it possible to obtain higher phosphoric acid doping levels and therefore relatively high proton conductivity. Moreover, the oxidative stability of the cross-linked membranes was significantly enhanced. For instance, in Fenton's reagent (3% H2O2 solution, 4 ppm Fe2+, 70 °C), the cross-linked PBI-NGDE-20% membrane did not break into pieces and kept its shape for more than 480 h and its remaining weight percent was approximately 65%. In addition, the thermal stability was sufficient enough within the operation temperature of PBI-based fuel cells. The cross-linked PBI-NGDE-X% (X is the weight percent of epoxy resin in the cross-linked membranes) membranes displayed relatively high proton conductivity under anhydrous conditions. For instance, PBI-NGDE-5% membrane with acid uptake of 193% exhibited a proton conductivity of 0.017 S cm-1 at 200 °C. All the results indicated that it may be a suitable candidate for applications in HT-PEMFCs.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)8412-8421
Number of pages10
JournalInternational Journal of Hydrogen Energy
Volume36
Issue number14
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2011

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Fuel Technology
  • Condensed Matter Physics
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology

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