Anhydrous proton conductor based on heterocycle attached to a polymer backbone
View Patent ↗The invention relates to proton-conducting polymers, including tetrazole-containing polymers. Proton-conducting membranes useful for fuel cell applications are formed from mixtures of a polymer with one or more non-aqueous proton sources. In representative examples of the present invention, tetrazole groups are attached to a polymer backbone such as polyphosphazene, the tetrazole groups interacting with the proton source.
1. An anhydrous proton-conducting membrane comprising:
a polymer having a single polymer backbone;
a heterocyclic group attached to the single polymer backbone and
an inorganic proton source attached to the single polymer backbone.
2. The anhydrous proton-conducting membrane of claim 1 , wherein the heterocyclic group is a tetrazole group directly bound to the single polymer backbone by a chemical bond.
3. The anhydrous proton-conducting membrane of claim 2 , wherein the tetrazole group is linked to the polymer backbone through a linking group.
4. The anhydrous proton-conducting membrane of claim 2 , wherein the inorganic proton source is an acid,
wherein an interaction between the acid and the tetrazole group stabilizes the membrane.
5. The anhydrous proton-conducting of claim 1 , wherein:
the single polymer backbone is selected from a group consisting of polyphosphazene, polyether ketone, polystyrene, polyphenylene, poly(trifluorostyrene) polysulfone, polyimide, polyazole, silicon-containing polymers, and polyimidazole.
6. The anhydrous proton-conducting of claim 1 , wherein the proton source is selected from a group consisting of phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid, sulfates, and phosphates.
7. The anhydrous proton-conducting membrane of claim 1 , wherein the proton-conducting membrane is a component of a membrane electrode assembly (MEA), the MBA comprising:
a first electrode,
a second electrode, and
the proton-conducting membrane located between the first electrode and the second electrode.
8. The anhydrous proton-conducting membrane of claim 7 , wherein the MEA is part of a fuel cell.