Highly durable polymer electrolyte membranes at elevated temperature: Cross-linked copolymer structure consisting of poly(benzoxazine) and poly(benzimidazole)

Sung Kon Kim, Ki Hyun Kim, Jung Ock Park, Kihyun Kim, Taeyun Ko, Seong Woo Choi, Chanho Pak, Hyuk Chang, Jong Chan Lee

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

44 Scopus citations

Abstract

For polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications at elevated temperature (>100 °C), a series of cross-linked benzoxazine- benzimidazole copolymer, P(HFa-co-BI), membranes are prepared by casting a solution of poly[2,2′-(m-phenylene)-5,5′-bibenzimidazole] (PBI) and di-functional benzoxazine monomer, 6,6′-(hexafluoroisopropylidene)bis(3- phenyl-3,4-dihydro-2H-benzoxazine) (HFa), in N,N-dimethylacetamide prior to stepwise heating to 250 °C. The films are also viable to manufacture to large quantities and area by roll-to-roll coating. The resulting cross-linked copolymer, P(HFa-co-BI), membranes are found to be thermally and mechanically stable. Although the proton conductivity values of P(HFa-co-BI) membranes are smaller than that of the PBI membrane, their cell performance (0.68 V at 0.2 A cm-2 at 150 °C) is close to that of PBI membrane and their long-term durability (ca. 3116 cycles on in situ accelerated lifetime mode of load cycling testing) is found to be far superior to the PBI membrane.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)346-353
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Power Sources
Volume226
DOIs
StatePublished - 15 Mar 2013

Keywords

  • Fuel cells
  • Membranes
  • Phosphoric acid
  • Poly(benzimidazole)
  • Poly(benzoxazine)

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