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Superprotonic Conductivity in Flexible Porous Covalent Organic Framework Membranes
Author(s) -
Sasmal Himadri Sekhar,
Aiyappa Harshitha Barike,
Bhange Siddheshwar N.,
Karak Suvendu,
Halder Arjun,
Kurungot Sreekumar,
Banerjee Rahul
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
angewandte chemie international edition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.831
H-Index - 550
eISSN - 1521-3773
pISSN - 1433-7851
DOI - 10.1002/anie.201804753
Subject(s) - membrane , electrolyte , covalent bond , conductivity , porosity , chemical engineering , proton exchange membrane fuel cell , covalent organic framework , materials science , polymer , sulfonic acid , chemistry , polymer chemistry , organic chemistry , composite material , electrode , biochemistry , engineering
Poor mechanical stability of the polymer electrolyte membranes remains one of the bottlenecks towards improving the performance of the proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. The present work proposes a unique way to utilize crystalline covalent organic frameworks (COFs) as a self‐standing, highly flexible membrane to further boost the mechanical stability of the material without compromising its innate structural characteristics. The as‐synthesized p ‐toluene sulfonic acid loaded COF membranes (COFMs) show the highest proton conductivity (as high as 7.8×10 −2 S cm −1 ) amongst all crystalline porous organic polymeric materials reported to date, and were tested under real PEM operating conditions to ascertain their practical utilization as proton exchange membranes. Attainment of 24 mW cm −2 power density, which is the highest among COFs and MOFs, highlights the possibility of using a COF membrane over the other state‐of‐the‐art crystalline porous polymeric materials reported to date.