TY - JOUR
T1 - Dimethylimidazolium-functionalized polybenzimidazole and its organic–inorganic hybrid membranes for anion exchange membrane fuel cells
AU - Jheng, Li Cheng
AU - Cheng, Cheng Wei
AU - Ho, Ko Shan
AU - Hsu, Steve Lien Chung
AU - Hsu, Chung Yen
AU - Lin, Bi Yun
AU - Ho, Tsung Han
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
PY - 2021/9/1
Y1 - 2021/9/1
N2 - A quaternized polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane was synthesized by grafting a dimethylimidazolium end-capped side chain onto PBI. The organic–inorganic hybrid membrane of the quaternized PBI was prepared via a silane-induced crosslinking process with triethoxysilylpropyl dimethylimidazolium chloride. The chemical structure and membrane morphology were characterized using NMR, FTIR, TGA, SEM, EDX, AFM, SAXS, and XPS techniques. Compared with the pristine membrane of dimethylimidazolium-functionalized PBI, its hybrid membrane exhibited a lower swelling ratio, higher mechanical strength, and better oxidative stability. However, the morphology of hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase separation, which facilitates the ion transport along hydrophilic channels, only successfully developed in the pristine membrane. As a result, the hydroxide conductivity of the pristine membrane (5.02 × 10−2 S cm−1 at 80◦C) was measured higher than that of the hybrid membrane (2.22 × 10−2 S cm−1 at 80◦C). The hydroxide conductivity and tensile results suggested that both membranes had good alkaline stability in 2M KOH solution at 80◦C. Furthermore, the maximum power densities of the pristine and hybrid membranes of dimethylimidazolium-functionalized PBI reached 241 mW cm−2 and 152 mW cm−2 at 60◦C, respectively. The fuel cell performance result demonstrates that these two membranes are promising as AEMs for fuel cell applications.
AB - A quaternized polybenzimidazole (PBI) membrane was synthesized by grafting a dimethylimidazolium end-capped side chain onto PBI. The organic–inorganic hybrid membrane of the quaternized PBI was prepared via a silane-induced crosslinking process with triethoxysilylpropyl dimethylimidazolium chloride. The chemical structure and membrane morphology were characterized using NMR, FTIR, TGA, SEM, EDX, AFM, SAXS, and XPS techniques. Compared with the pristine membrane of dimethylimidazolium-functionalized PBI, its hybrid membrane exhibited a lower swelling ratio, higher mechanical strength, and better oxidative stability. However, the morphology of hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase separation, which facilitates the ion transport along hydrophilic channels, only successfully developed in the pristine membrane. As a result, the hydroxide conductivity of the pristine membrane (5.02 × 10−2 S cm−1 at 80◦C) was measured higher than that of the hybrid membrane (2.22 × 10−2 S cm−1 at 80◦C). The hydroxide conductivity and tensile results suggested that both membranes had good alkaline stability in 2M KOH solution at 80◦C. Furthermore, the maximum power densities of the pristine and hybrid membranes of dimethylimidazolium-functionalized PBI reached 241 mW cm−2 and 152 mW cm−2 at 60◦C, respectively. The fuel cell performance result demonstrates that these two membranes are promising as AEMs for fuel cell applications.
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U2 - 10.3390/polym13172864
DO - 10.3390/polym13172864
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85114029123
SN - 2073-4360
VL - 13
JO - Polymers
JF - Polymers
IS - 17
M1 - 2864
ER -