Silane Cross-Linked Sulfonted Poly(Ether Ketone/Ether Benzimidazole)s for Fuel Cell Applications

Zilu Yao; Mengbing Cui; Zhenghui Zhang; Liang Wu; Tongwen Xu

doi:10.3390/polym9120631

Silane Cross-Linked Sulfonted Poly(Ether Ketone/Ether Benzimidazole)s for Fuel Cell Applications

Polymers (Basel). 2017 Nov 23;9(12):631. doi: 10.3390/polym9120631.

Authors

Zilu Yao¹, Mengbing Cui², Zhenghui Zhang³, Liang Wu⁴, Tongwen Xu⁵

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, School of Chemistry and Material Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. yaozl@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
² CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, School of Chemistry and Material Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. cuimb@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
³ CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, School of Chemistry and Material Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. zhangzh@mail.ustc.edu.cn.
⁴ CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, School of Chemistry and Material Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. liangwu8@ustc.edu.cn.
⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Soft Matter Chemistry, Collaborative Innovation Center of Chemistry for Energy Materials, School of Chemistry and Material Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei 230026, China. twxu@ustc.edu.cn.

Abstract

γ-(2,3-epoxypropoxy) propyltrimethoxysilane (KH-560) was incorporated in various proportions into side-chain-type sulfonated poly(ether ketone/ether benzimidazole) (SPEKEBI) as a crosslinker, to make membranes with high ion exchange capacities and excellent performance for direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). Systematical measurements including Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy-energy-dispersive and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) proved the complete disappearance of epoxy groups in KH-560 and the existence of Si in the membranes. The resulting membranes showed increased mechanical strength and thermal stability compared to the unmodified sulfonated poly(ether ketone/ether benzimidazole) membrane in appropriate doping amount. Meanwhile, the methanol permeability has decreased, leading to the increase of relative selectivities of SPEKEBI-x-SiO₂ membranes. Furthermore, the H₂/O₂ cell performance of SPEKEBI-2.5-SiO₂ membrane showed a much higher peak power density compared with the pure SPEKEBI memrbrane.

Keywords: KH-560; cross-linked; densely sulfonated polymer; direct methanol fuel cells; proton exchange membranes.

Abstract

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