Synthesis of soluble polybenzimidazoles for high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications

Achieving 1060 mW cm-2 with 0.6 mg cm-2 Pt Loading Based on Imidazole-Riched Semi-Interpenetrating Proton Exchange Membrane at High-Temperature Fuel Cells

Enhancing phosphoric acid (PA) doping in polybenzimidazole (PBI) membranes is crucial for improving the performance of high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs). However, excessive PA uptake often leads to drawbacks such as PA loss and compromised mechanical properties when surpassing PA capacity of PBI basic functionality. Herein, a new strategy that integrates high PA uptake, mechanical strength, and acid retention is proposed by embedding linear PBI chains into a crosslinked poly(N-vinylimidazole) (PVIm) backbone via in-situ polymerization. The imidazole (Im)-riched semi-interpenetrating polymer network (sIPN) membrane with high-density nitrogen moieties, significantly enhancing the PA doping degree to 380% shows an excellent conductivity (0.108 S cm-1). Meanwhile, the crosslinking structure in the sIPN membrane ensures adequate mechanical properties, low hydrogen permeability, and a relatively low swelling ratio. As a result, the single cell based on the membrane achieves the highest power density of 1060 mW cm-2 with a low Pt loading (0.6 mg cm-2) up to now and exhibits excellent fuel cell stability.

A Novel High Temperature Fuel Cell Proton Exchange Membrane with Nanoscale Phase Separation Structure Based on Crosslinked Polybenzimidazole with Poly(vinylbenzyl chloride)

A semi-aromatic polybenzimidazole (DPBI) is synthesized via polycondensation of decanedioic acid (DCDA) and 3,3-diaminobenzidine (DAB) in a mixed phosphorus pentoxide/methanesulfonic acid (PPMA) solvent. Ascribing to in-situ macromolecular crosslinker of ploly((vinylbenzyl chloride) (PVBC), a robust crosslinked DPBI membrane (DPBI-xPVBC, x refers to the weight percentage of PVBC in the membrane) can be obtained. Comprehensive properties of the DPBI and DPBI-xPVBC membranes are investigated, including chemical structure, antioxidant stability, mechanical strength, PA uptake and electrochemical performances. Compared with pristine DPBI membrane, the PA doped DPBI-xPVBC membranes exhibit excellent antioxidative stability, high proton conductivity and enhanced mechanical strength. The PA doped DPBI-10PVBC membrane shows a proton conductivity of 49 mS cm^-1 at 160 °C without humidification. Particularly, it reveals an enhanced H₂/O₂ single cell performance with the maximum peak power density of 405 mW cm^-2, which is 29% higher than that of pristine DPBI membrane (314 mW cm^-2). In addition, the cell is very stable in 50 h, indicating the in-situ crosslinked DPBI with a macromolecular crosslinker of PVBC is an efficient way to improve the overall performance of HT-PEMs for high performance HT-PEMFCs.

Synthesis and characterization of high-temperature resistant and thermally conductive magnetic PBI/Fe3O4 nanofibers

In the present study, magnetite nanoparticles were added to an electrospinning solution of polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)/polybenzimidazole (PBI) polymers to prepare PBI/Fe3O4 nanofibers (NFs). The operating voltage of the electrospinning device was set to 15 kV, the distance between the needle and the plate was 10 cm, and the feed rate was set to 0.3 mL h−1. The microstructures of the as-prepared NFs were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry, atomic force microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, and vibration sample magnetometry. Magnetite-doped PVDF/PBI NFs exhibited superior magnetism and saturation magnetization in the range of 1.5–5 emu g−1. It was observed that the thermal resistance of the fibers increased with the increasing amount of magnetic particles and nanocomposite fiber (NCF) 1 and NCF2 exhibited excellent thermal resistance up to 415°C and 450°C, respectively. The heat conduction coefficient of the fibers was measured at 4, 6, and 8 W. The thermal conductivity of the NFs increased with the increasing amount of magnetite nanoparticles, and the highest thermal conductivity coefficient for NCF2 (1.83 W mK−1) was measured at 4 W.