Abstract
Fuel cell technology has merged in recent years as a keystone for future energy supply. The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is one of the most promising projects of this energy technology program; the PEMFC is made of a conducting polymer that usually operates at temperatures in the range 20-80°C. In order to reach high energy consumption application like transportation, the using temperatures need to be increased above 100°C. Sol-gel organic/inorganic hybrids have been evaluated as materials for membranes to full file the high temperature using requirement. These new materials for membrane need to retain water content and therefore proton conductivity property with using temperature and time. The membranes also need to be chemical-resistant to strong acidic conditions and to keep their mechanical properties regarding stacking requirements. In order to! answer all these specifications, the proposed hybrid membranes are based on nanoporous inorganic phase embedded in an organic polymer in which chemical grafting and conductivity network microstructure are optimized to preserve both wateruptake and proton conductivity at higher temperatures. Such very promising results on these new hybrids are presented and discussed regarding electrochemical properties/microstructure.
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