Highly Stable, Low Gas Crossover, Proton‐Conducting Phenylated Polyphenylenes. (27th June 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Adamski, Michael; Skalski, Thomas J. G.; Britton, Benjamin; Peckham, Timothy J.; Metzler, Lukas; Holdcroft, Steven
• Is Part Of: Angewandte Chemie. Volume 129:Number 31(2017)
• Page Start: 9186
• Page End: 9189
• Publication Date: 2017-06-27
• Subjects: Brennstoffzellen -- Poly(phenylen) -- Polymere -- Protonenaustauschmembranen -- Protonenleitung; Chemistry -- Periodicals; 540
• DOI: 10.1002/ange.201703916
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0044-8249

Abstract

Abstract: Two classes of novel sulfonated phenylated polyphenylene ionomers are investigated as polyaromatic‐based proton exchange membranes. Both types of ionomer possess high ion exchange capacities yet are insoluble in water at elevated temperatures. They exhibit high proton conductivity under both fully hydrated conditions and reduced relative humidity, and are markedly resilient to free radical attack. Fuel cells constructed with membrane‐electrode assemblies containing each ionomer membrane yield high in situ proton conductivity and peak power densities that are greater than obtained using Nafion reference membranes. In situ chemical stability accelerated stress tests reveal that this class of the polyaromatic membranes allow significantly lower gas crossover and lower rates of degradation than Nafion benchmark systems. These results point to a promising future for molecularly designed sulfonated phenylated polyphenylenes as proton‐conducting media in electrochemical technologies.