Highly acid-stable high-temperature proton exchange membrane: Azide-based polymeric ionic liquids for the enhancement of amino-polybenzimidazole

Polybenzimidazole (PBI) is commonly used for high-temperature proton exchange membranes. However, it is undeniably challenging for phosphoric acid (PA)-doped PBI membranes to have both high proton conductivity and excellent long-term stability. In this study, a series of polymer ionic liquid composite PBI membranes were fabricated. These membranes are made using two azide-functional ionic liquids and amino-polybenzimidazole, adjusting the amount of the two ionic liquids. The ionic pairs offered by the ionic liquids positively impact the transportation of protons and the stability of PA through the replacement of anions. It is noteworthy that crosslinked amino-polybenzimidazole membranes containing functional polymeric ionic liquids have proton conductivity of up to 131.7 mS cm −1 at 180 °C, and the PA retention after 240 h at 160 °C under humidity-free conditions is 86.5 %. In addition, the membrane is used in membrane electrodes with hydrogen and oxygen at the anode and cathode, respectively, exhibiting a peak power density of 694.6 mW cm −2 at 160 °C. And the voltage decay rate is 0.28 mV h −1 after long-term test. The findings indicate that membranes made of functional polymeric ionic liquids crosslinked with amino-polybenzimidazoleprovide a new strategy to enhance fuel cell durability.