Proton conducting membrane containing room temperature ionic liquid

A new proton conducting membrane containing room temperature ionic liquid: 2,3-dimethyl-1-octylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonylimide (DMOImTFSI) and polyvinylidenefluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene (PVdF-HFP) has been developed in the present work. The addition of bis(trifluoromethanesulphonyl)imide (HN(CF3SO2)2) to this membrane results in an increase in conductivity by one order of magnitude at 25 °C. The membrane shows a conductivity of 2.74 × 10−3 S/cm at 130 °C along with good mechanical stability. The membrane was tested in a commercial fuel cell test station at 100 °C with dry hydrogen and oxygen gas reactants using Pt/C electrodes. The membrane containing the ionic liquid has been found to be electroactive for hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction at the platinum electrode and can be developed for use in proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) under non-humid conditions at elevated temperatures.