SCI和EI收录∣中国化工学会会刊

Chinese Journal of Chemical Engineering ›› 2020, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (9): 2425-2437.DOI: 10.1016/j.cjche.2020.05.016

• Energy, Resources and Environmental Technology • Previous Articles     Next Articles

Sulfonated polybenzimidazole/amine functionalized titanium dioxide (sPBI/AFT) composite electrolyte membranes for high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells usage

Muhammad A. Imran1, Tiantian Li1, Xuemei Wu1, Xiaoming Yan1, Abdul-Sammed Khan2, Gaohong He1   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Research and Development Center of Membrane Science and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China;
    2 School of Physics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
  • Received:2019-10-06 Revised:2020-05-12 Online:2020-10-21 Published:2020-09-28
  • Contact: Gaohong He
  • Supported by:
    This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21776034, 21476044 and 21406031), National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFB0101203), Joint Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1663223) and Changjiang Scholars Program (T2012049).

Sulfonated polybenzimidazole/amine functionalized titanium dioxide (sPBI/AFT) composite electrolyte membranes for high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells usage

Muhammad A. Imran1, Tiantian Li1, Xuemei Wu1, Xiaoming Yan1, Abdul-Sammed Khan2, Gaohong He1   

  1. 1 State Key Laboratory of Fine Chemicals, Research and Development Center of Membrane Science and Technology, School of Chemical Engineering, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China;
    2 School of Physics, Dalian University of Technology, Dalian 116024, China
  • 通讯作者: Gaohong He
  • 基金资助:
    This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 21776034, 21476044 and 21406031), National Key Research and Development Program of China (2016YFB0101203), Joint Funds of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (U1663223) and Changjiang Scholars Program (T2012049).

Abstract: The novel sulfonated polybenzimidazole (sPBI)/amine functionalized titanium dioxide (AFT) composite membrane is devised and studied for its capability of the application of high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs), unlike the prior low temperature AFT endeavors. The high temperature compatibility was actualized because of the filling of free volumes in the rigid aromatic matrix of the composite with AFT nanoparticles which inhibited segmental motions of the chains and improved its thermal stability. Besides, amine functionalization of TiO2 enhanced their dispersion character in the sPBI matrix and shortened the interparticle separation gap which finally improved the proton transfer after establishing interconnected pathways and breeding more phosphoric acid (PA) doping. In addition, the appeared assembled clusters of AFT flourished a superior mechanical stability. Thus, the optimized sPBI/AFT (10 wt%) showed 65.3 MPa tensile strength; 0.084 S·cm-1 proton conductivity (at 160 °C; in anhydrous conditions), 28.6% water uptake and PA doping level of 23 mol per sPBI repeat unit. The maximum power density peak for sPBI/AFT-10 met the figure of 0.42 W·cm-2 at 160 °C (in dry conditions) under atmospheric pressure with 1.5 and 2.5 stoichiometric flow rates of H2/air. These results affirmed the probable fitting of sPBI/AFT composite for HT-PEMFC applications.

Key words: Sulfonated polybenzimidazole, Titanium dioxide, High temperature fuel cells, Proton exchange membrane, Leaching, Agglomeration, Polymerization

摘要: The novel sulfonated polybenzimidazole (sPBI)/amine functionalized titanium dioxide (AFT) composite membrane is devised and studied for its capability of the application of high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs), unlike the prior low temperature AFT endeavors. The high temperature compatibility was actualized because of the filling of free volumes in the rigid aromatic matrix of the composite with AFT nanoparticles which inhibited segmental motions of the chains and improved its thermal stability. Besides, amine functionalization of TiO2 enhanced their dispersion character in the sPBI matrix and shortened the interparticle separation gap which finally improved the proton transfer after establishing interconnected pathways and breeding more phosphoric acid (PA) doping. In addition, the appeared assembled clusters of AFT flourished a superior mechanical stability. Thus, the optimized sPBI/AFT (10 wt%) showed 65.3 MPa tensile strength; 0.084 S·cm-1 proton conductivity (at 160 °C; in anhydrous conditions), 28.6% water uptake and PA doping level of 23 mol per sPBI repeat unit. The maximum power density peak for sPBI/AFT-10 met the figure of 0.42 W·cm-2 at 160 °C (in dry conditions) under atmospheric pressure with 1.5 and 2.5 stoichiometric flow rates of H2/air. These results affirmed the probable fitting of sPBI/AFT composite for HT-PEMFC applications.

关键词: Sulfonated polybenzimidazole, Titanium dioxide, High temperature fuel cells, Proton exchange membrane, Leaching, Agglomeration, Polymerization