Preparation and performance study of ionic liquid @ boron nitride modified polyimide proton exchange membrane
Yao Wang, Yao Wang, Yanming Wang, Yanming Wang, Yizheng Wang, Yizheng Wang, Bihai Su, Linlin Shi, Feibo Li, Jingbo Mu, Hongwei Che, Zhixiao Zhang, Xiaoliang Zhang, Ping Li, Feng Li
Abstract
Abstract Proton exchange membrane (PEM) plays a relatively significant part in PEM fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this study, ionic liquid were grafted onto boron nitride (ILs@BN) were prepared by wet ball milling, and the polyimide (PI) composite films with different contents (1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 wt%) of ILs@BN were fabricated by solution‐casting method. Results showed that compared with the original polyimide films, the performance of the obtained composite films has been significantly improved. Tensile strength of film containing 4 wt% ILs@BN was enormously enhanced by 93.62% (from 47 to 91.8 MPa), respectively, in contrast to pure PI film. Compared with pure PI film, film containing with 4 wt% ILs@BN was reduced from 71.2° to 63.2°, which indicated the better hydrophilicity of the film and potential proton transport channels. The composite film exhibited excellent proton conductivity, which was tremendously elevated by 58.35% (from 0.1215 S cm −1 for pure PI to 0.1924 S cm −1 for film containing with 4 wt% ILs@BN). Comprehensively, the film containing with 4 wt% ILs@BN presenting excellent mechanical properties (91.8 MPa), contact angle (63.2°) and proton conductivity (0.1924 S cm −1 ) demonstrating strong potential applications in fuel cells.