Polymer fuel cells based on polybenzimidazole/H3PO4

Polybenzimidazole-based membranes are nowadays considered the best alternative to Nafion for the fabrication of high-temperature polymer fuel cells. The rich chemistry of benzimidazole allows us to widely change the physicochemical properties of the resulting polymers and, consequently, to tune the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Energy & environmental science 2012, Vol.5 (4), p.6436-6444
Main Authors: Quartarone, Eliana, Mustarelli, Piercarlo
Format: Article
Language:English
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Summary:Polybenzimidazole-based membranes are nowadays considered the best alternative to Nafion for the fabrication of high-temperature polymer fuel cells. The rich chemistry of benzimidazole allows us to widely change the physicochemical properties of the resulting polymers and, consequently, to tune the functional properties of the electrolyte membrane. In this perspective we report the most recent developments in PBI-based membranes, cells and stacks. Emphasis is given to problems such as acid leaching, membrane degradation and stack durability. Permanent proton conductivity of the H 3 PO 4 -doped PBI membranes may be increased by solgel silica microparticles functionalized with imidazole groups.
ISSN:1754-5692
1754-5706
DOI:10.1039/c2ee03055a