Journal
ACS SUSTAINABLE CHEMISTRY & ENGINEERING
Volume 8, Issue 43, Pages 16156-16163Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/acssuschemeng.0c04601
Keywords
Polybenzimidazole; Sulfur-doped reduced graphene oxide; Porous membrane; Phosphoric acid retention; Proton transport; Long-term fuel cell stability
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Funding
- Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation (NRF) - Ministry of Education [NRF-2020R1A2C1009854]
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Fuel cells are cleaner alternatives of sustainable green energy sources. Their proton exchange membranes continue to be a key component; however, there are several challenges associated with their application. To overcome these challenges, we designed and fabricated open cellular anhydrous polybenzimidazole (PBI) electrolyte nanohybrid membranes with high proton conductivity and long-term stability by facile non-solvent-induced phase separation. When the membranes were heated to 300 degrees C, the Friedel-Crafts reaction between the electron-rich phenyl ring and carboxylic acid groups covalently cross-linked the PBI chains. A hierarchical porous structure was effectively tailored from fingerlike cavities to the sponge pores simply by tuning the S-doped-reduced graphene oxide (S-RGO) concentration. The direct incorporation of S-RGO into the micropore channels of membrane yielded exceptional phosphoric acid (H3PO4) doping level of 1158.1% and high proton conductivity of 0.23 S cm(-1) at 160 degrees C and 0% humidity, thereby showing a synergistic effect by proton transfer bridge, continuous proton transport channels, and H3PO4 reservoirs. Furthermore, the current density at 0.6 V and maximum power density of the S-RGO-reinforced PBI (S-PBI) nanohybrid membranes were increased to 716 mA cm(-2) and 850 mW cm(-2), respectively. The interconnected spongelike porous S-PBI nanohybrid membranes with significantly reduced mass transfer resistances exhibited excellent performance in high-temperature water-free hydrogen fuel cells.
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