Preparation of a flexible organic–inorganic hybrid proton-conducting membrane for non-humidified conditions

Excerpt

Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) have recently received considerable attention as potential new energy devices. PEFCs have a proton-conducting membrane as a solid-electrolyte membrane, and Nafion^© is widely used for this purpose. However, Nafion^© shows high proton conductivity only when saturated with water vapor, which limits the operating temperature of these fuel cells to about 353 K. The use of solid-electrolyte membranes with high proton conductivity at an intermediate temperature range (373–473 K) with little or no dependence on humidity could greatly improve the energy efficiency of fuel cells, minimize CO poisoning of catalyst, and reduce the size of the humidifier. To develop such a high-performance solid electrolyte, organic–inorganic hybrid materials have been studied [1, 2]. …