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Enhanced proton conductivity from phosphoric acid‐incorporated 3D polyacrylamide‐graft‐starch hydrogel materials for high‐temperature proton exchange membranes
Author(s) -
Qin Qi,
Tang Qunwei,
He Benlin,
Chen Haiyan,
Yuan Shuangshuang,
Wang Xin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.40622
Subject(s) - anhydrous , starch , membrane , materials science , polyacrylamide , proton , chemical engineering , proton exchange membrane fuel cell , conductivity , polymer chemistry , aqueous solution , phosphoric acid , chemistry , organic chemistry , biochemistry , physics , quantum mechanics , engineering , metallurgy
To enhance anhydrous proton conductivity of high‐temperature proton exchange membranes (PEMs), we report here the realization of H 3 PO 4 ‐imbibed three‐dimensional (3D) polyacrylamide‐graft‐starch (PAAm‐g‐starch) hydrogel materials as high‐temperature PEMs using the unique absorption and retention of crosslinked PAAm‐g‐starch to concentrated H 3 PO 4 aqueous solution. The 3D framework of PAAm‐g‐starch matrix provides enormous space to keep H 3 PO 4 into the porous structure, which can be controlled by adjusting crosslinking agent and initiator dosages. Results show that the H 3 PO 4 loading and therefore the proton conductivities of the membranes are significantly enhanced by increasing the amount of crosslinking agent and initiator dosages. Proton conductivities as high as 0.109 S cm −1 at 180°C under fully anhydrous state are recorded. The high conductivities at high temperatures in combination with the simple preparation, low cost, and scalable matrices demonstrate the potential use of PAAm‐g‐starch hydrogel materials in high‐temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131 , 40622.