Montmorillonite–Polybenzimidazole Inorganic-Organic Composite Membrane with Electric Field-Aligned Proton Transport Channel for High Temperature Proton Exchange Membranes

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe conductivity of high temperature proton exchange membranes (HTPEM) was improved by adding Montmorillonite (MMT) with proton counter-ions H+to polybenzimidazole containing ether units (PBI-O) based membrane. During casting procedure an external AC electric field was applied to the MMT-PBI-O-based composite membranes casting solution. The introduction of MMT nanoplatelets in HTPEM significantly improved the acid doping level and conductivity, without modifying the electrochemical/chemical stability,, dimensional stability and mechanical properties of composite membranes. The conductivity of 5%-MMT-PBI-O composite membranes was improved nearly 400% compared to pure PBI-O membranes, proving that the present technique is a potential method for fabricating HTPEM with oriented MMT nanoplatelets and taking full advantage of the bulk conductivity of the MMT nanoplatelets.