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Fabrication and characterization of sulfonated polybenzimidazole/sulfonated imidized graphene oxide hybrid membranes for high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells

2019; Wiley; Volume: 136; Issue: 34 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1002/app.47892

1097-4628

Muhammad Imran, Gaohong He, Xuemei Wu, Xiaoming Yan, Tiantian Li, Abdul‐Sammed Khan,

Advanced battery technologies research

ABSTRACT The sulfonated polybenzimidazole (sPBI)/sulfonated imidized graphene oxide (SIGO) was evaluated to be a potential candidate for high temperature proton exchange membranes fuel cells (HT‐PEMFCs). Multifunctionalized covalently bonded SIGO is incorporated in sPBI matrix to resolve the drawbacks such as low proton conductivity, poor water uptake, and ion‐exchange capacity (IEC) of sPBI polymer, synthesized by direct polycondensation in phosphoric acid for the application of proton exchange membranes. Strong hydrogen bonding among multifunctional groups established a neighborhood of interconnected hydrophobic graphene sheets and organic polymer chains. It provides hydrophobic–hydrophilic phase separation and facile proton hopping architecture. The optimized sPBI/SIGO (15 wt %) revealed 2.45 meq g −1 IEC; 5.81 mS cm −1 proton conductivity [120 °C and 10% relative humidity (RH)] and 2.45% bound water content. The maximum power density of the sPBI/SIGO‐15 membrane was 0.40 W cm −2 at 160 °C (5% RH) and ambient pressure with stoichiometric feed of H 2 /air. This recommends that sPBI/SIGO composite membranes are compatible candidate for HT‐PEMFCs. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136 , 47892.