Proton transport in acid containing choline dihydrogen phosphate membranes for fuel cell

• We demonstrated high proton conductivity in plastic crystal impregnated cellulose acetate membranes.
• Fuel cell testing of these membranes was also carried out.
• Conductivity and electrochemical properties of these membranes were found promising for future developments.

Proton conducting membranes based on impregnating cellulose acetate (CA) supports with mixtures of the organic ionic plastic crystal (OIPC) choline dihydrogen phosphate and various acids – 18 mol% H3PO4, 4 mol% HN(Tf)2 and 4, 8 and 12 mol% TfOH are discussed. These membranes showed high thermal stability and high ionic conductivity especially in the temperature range of interest (around 110 °C). The cyclic voltammetry (CV) results showed significant H+ reduction currents, particularly at temperatures above the plastic crystal phase transition. Fuel cell assemblies incorporating the membranes containing 18 mol% H3PO4 and 4 mol% HN(Tf)2/[Choline][DHP] were also tested. Although the efficiencies were not high, likely due to the cell configuration and the proton conducting material itself being far from optimized, the conductivity and electrochemical properties suggest that further developments of this type of membrane material would be promising.