Anhydrous Proton-Conducting Properties of Nafion–1,2,4-Triazole and Nafion–Benzimidazole Membranes for Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells

Abstract

Recently, fuel cells have gathered a lot of interest due to their potential as future sources of clean energy. Polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs) require high operating temperatures for high conversion efficiency. Anhydrous proton-conducting polymers employing Nafion–1,2,4-triazole- and Nafion–benzimidazole-blend membranes were studied for use in PEFCs above . The solvents 1,2,4-triazole and benzimidazole are thermally stable, organic reagents with low volatility and are used to replace water as the proton acceptor in the perfluorinated ionomer membrane. The Nafion–benzimidazole blend had high thermal stability above and proton conductivity of at under nonhumidified conditions. Fuel cell tests using a single membrane electrode assembly cell with the Nafion-blend membranes were successfully performed.