Perfluorosulfonyl Imide versus Perfluorosulfonic Acid Ionomers in Proton-Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells at Low Relative Humidity

Designing highly conductive ionomers at high temperature and low relative humidity is challenging in proton-exchange membrane fuel cells. Perfluorosulfonyl imide ionomers were believed to achieve this goal, owing to their exceptional acidity and excellent thermal stability. Perfluorosulfonyl imide ionomers are less conductive than the analogous perfluorosulfonic acids despite similar membrane microstructure. In this study, the distinct behavior is rationalized by in situ synchrotron infrared spectroscopy during hydration. The protonation mechanism, formation of the protonic moiety and water clustering are totally different for the two different families of membranes. The ionization mediated by trans-to-cis conformational transition of the perfluorosulfonyl imide ionomer is not accompanied by the formation of hydronium ions. In contrast, Zundel-ion entities were identified as the elementary protonic complex, which is stable over the hydration range. The H-bond network of surrounding water molecules appears to be less connected and the protons remain highly localized and unavailable for efficient structural transport. The delocalization of protons and their mitigated interaction with the surrounding medium are prominent effects that negatively impact conductivity.

Use of a High-Performance Poly(p-phenylene)-Based Aromatic Hydrocarbon Ionomer with Superacid Groups in Fuel Cells under Low Humidity Conditions

Aromatic ionomers with perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acid groups for fuel cell applications have been prepared mostly by the post-functionalization method. Herein, we present a direct polymerization method using a novel monomer with a perfluorosulfonic acid group to control the amount and position of the sulfonic acid groups. A poly(p-phenylene)-based aromatic hydrocarbon ionomer bearing a pendant perfluorosulfonic acid group in a substituent at the 2-position is synthesized by Ni(0)-catalyzed coupling polymerization. The direct polymerization provides M n values of up to 169 000 with a highly controlled molecular structure and allows the formation of thin membranes. These ionomers were found to combine the positive features of perfluorinated and aromatic hydrocarbon ionomers, and these thin membranes with a relatively high ion exchange capacity showed high proton conductivity and excellent fuel cell performance (907 mW cm-2 even at 80 °C and 30% RH) under low humidity conditions compared with other reported aromatic hydrocarbon ionomers.

Effects of Block Length and Membrane Processing Conditions on the Morphology and Properties of Perfluorosulfonated Poly(arylene ether sulfone) Multiblock Copolymer Membranes for PEMFC

Perfluorosulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) multiblock copolymers have been shown to be promising as proton exchange membranes. The commonly used approach for preparation of the membrane is solvent casting; the properties of the resulting membranes are very dependent on the membrane processing conditions. In this paper, we study the effects of block length, selectivity of the solvent, and thermal treatment on the membrane properties such as morphology, water uptake, and ionic conductivity. DiMethylSulfOxide (DMSO), and DiMethylAcetamide (DMAc) were selected as casting solvents based on the Flory-Huggins parameter calculated by inversion gas chromatography (IGC). It was found that the solvent selectivity has a mild impact on the mean size of the ionic domains and the expansion upon swelling, while it dramatically affects the supramolecular ordering of the blocks. The membranes cast from DMSO exhibit more interconnected ionic clusters yielding higher conductivities and water uptake as compared to membranes cast from DMAc. A 10-fold increase in proton conductivity was achieved after thermal annealing of membranes at 150 °C, and the ionomers with longer block lengths show conductivities similar to Nafion at 80 °C and low relative humidity (30%).

Proton conductivity in doped aluminum phosphonate sponges

Proton-conducting networks (NETs) were prepared successfully by the insertion of phosphonated nanochannels into organic-inorganic hybrid materials that contain Al(3+) as the connector and hexakis(p-phosphonatophenyl)benzene (HPB) as the linker. Noncomplexed phosphonic acid groups remain in the framework, which depends on the ratio of both compounds, to yield a proton conductivity in the region of 10(-3) S cm(-1). This conductivity can be further improved and values as high as Nafion, a benchmark proton-exchange membrane for fuel cell applications, can be obtained by filling the network pores with intrinsic proton conductors. As a result of their sponge-like morphology, aluminum phosphonates adsorb conductive small molecules such as phosphonic acids, which results in a very high proton conductivity of approximately 5 × 10(-2) S cm(-1) at 120 °C and 50 % relative humidity (RH). Contrary to Nafion, the doped networks show a remarkably low temperature dependence of proton conductivity from external humidification. This effect indicates a transport mechanism that is different to the water vehicle mechanism. Furthermore, the materials exhibit an activation energy of 40 kJ mol(-1) at 15 % RH that starts to diminish to 10 kJ mol(-1) at 80 % RH, which is even smaller than the corresponding values obtained for Nafion 117.