Macromolecular Research, Vol.21, No.1, 35-41, January, 2013
Fuel cell based on novel hyper-branched polybenzimidazole membrane
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A novel hyper-branched polybenzimidazole (HB-PBI) has been synthesized and efficiently utilized as a conducting polymer for the fabrication of an efficient high temperature fuel cell. The developed fuel cell showed outstanding proton conductivity (0.168 Scm^(-1) at 150 °C) along with excellent single cell performance, displaying a maximum power density of 0.346 Wcm^(-2). The HB-PBI has been synthesized by polymerization of bibenzimidazole diterephthalic acid (BBIDTA) and 3,3′-diaminobenzene in the presence of poly phosphoric acid while the BBIDTA was synthesized by treating trimellitic anhydride with 3,3′-diaminobenzene. Both HB-PBI and BBIDTA were structurally characterized by nuclear magnetic resonance (1H and 13C NMR). HB-PBI showed high thermal stability and mechanical properties, findings that were corroborated by thermogravimetric analysis and use of a universal testing machine. Additionally, proton conduction and the thermal and mechanical properties of HB-PBI were compared with polybenzene imidazole (m-PBI), and found that HB-PBI has higher proton conducting, thermal and mechanical properties.
Keywords:polybenzimidazole;proton exchange membrane;fuel cell;thermal properties;mechanical properties
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