Due to the cost and the methanol crossover problems of the commercial proton exchange membranes (PEM), there has been an interest in improving the PEM to obtain  greater proton conductivity and lower methanol permeability. The proposed synthesized proton exchange membrane for the direct methanol fuel cell is the sulfonated co-polyimide (SPI). Sulfonated 4,4'-diaminodiphenylmethane (SDDM) was synthesized from 4,4'-diaminodiphenylmethane (DDM) and then SPI was synthesized from SDDM, DDM, hexamethylenediamine (HDA), 3,3',4,4'-benzophenonetetracarboxylic dianhydride (BTDA), where dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) was used as the solvent. SPI was synthesized at various degrees of sulfonation by varying the amount of SDDM in SPI. The membrane was obtained by solution casting. The effect of the degree of sulfonation on the properties of the membrane was studied. The chemical structures of SDDM and SPI were characterized by the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and the proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1H-NMR). Degradation temperature of SPI was analyzed by the thermogravimetry analysis (TGA). The membrane desired properties for fuel cell were investigated: the proton conductivity, the methanol permeability, the ion exchange capacity, and the water uptake.

Novel proton exchange membrane for direct methanol fuel cell

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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