Enhancement of 'dry' proton conductivity by self-assembled nanochannels in all-solid polyelectrolytes

TY - JOUR

T1 - Enhancement of 'dry' proton conductivity by self-assembled nanochannels in all-solid polyelectrolytes

AU - Shah, Azhar Hussain

AU - Li, Jiaye

AU - Yang, Hengrui

AU - Rana, Usman Ali

AU - Ranganathan, Vijayaraghavan

AU - Siddigi, Humaira M.

AU - Macfarlane, Douglas R.

AU - Forsyth, Maria

AU - Zhu, Haijin

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © The Royal Society of Chemistry.

PY - 2016

Y1 - 2016

N2 - Proton transport has been recognized as an essential process in many biological systems, as well as electrochemical devices including fuel cells and redox flow batteries. In the present study, we address the pressing need for solvent-free proton conducting polymer electrolytes for high-temperature PEM fuel cell applications by developing a novel all-solid polyelectrolyte membrane with a self-assembled proton-channel structure. We show that this self-assembled nanostructure endows the material with exciting 'dry' proton conductivity at elevated temperatures, as high as 0.3 mS cm-1 at 120 °C, making it an attractive candidate for high-temperature PEM fuel cell applications. Based on the combined investigation of solid-state NMR, FTIR and conductivity measurements, we propose that both molecular design and nano-scale structures are essential for obtaining highly conductive anhydrous proton conductors.

AB - Proton transport has been recognized as an essential process in many biological systems, as well as electrochemical devices including fuel cells and redox flow batteries. In the present study, we address the pressing need for solvent-free proton conducting polymer electrolytes for high-temperature PEM fuel cell applications by developing a novel all-solid polyelectrolyte membrane with a self-assembled proton-channel structure. We show that this self-assembled nanostructure endows the material with exciting 'dry' proton conductivity at elevated temperatures, as high as 0.3 mS cm-1 at 120 °C, making it an attractive candidate for high-temperature PEM fuel cell applications. Based on the combined investigation of solid-state NMR, FTIR and conductivity measurements, we propose that both molecular design and nano-scale structures are essential for obtaining highly conductive anhydrous proton conductors.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84969922575&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1039/c6ta00368k

DO - 10.1039/c6ta00368k

M3 - 文章

AN - SCOPUS:84969922575

SN - 2050-7488

VL - 4

SP - 7615

EP - 7623

JO - Journal of Materials Chemistry A

JF - Journal of Materials Chemistry A

IS - 20

ER -