Recently, the research group led by Associate Professor Jingshuai Yang from College of Sciences, NEU published a paper titled "The influence of comonomer structure on properties of poly (atomic pyridine) copolymer members for HT PEMFCs" on Journal of Membrane Science. Ruixuan Lv and Shuo Jin, 2021-grade undergraduate students majoring in Applied Chemistry at College of Sciences, are the co-first authors of this paper. NEU is the unit for the first authors of this paper, and the corresponding author is Jingshuai Yang.
The Journal of Membrane Science is a top journal in the field of membrane materials, published by Elsevier in 1976.
As the core component of high-temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs), the high-temperature proton exchange membrane plays an important role in conducting protons at high temperatures and supporting catalysts. The purpose of this research is to synthesize and prepare high-temperature proton exchange membranes with excellent comprehensive properties, and to study the influence of different structures on the properties of polymer membranes. Six types of all-aromatic copolymers P(TP-co-x) containing pyridine groups were synthesized by copolymerization of 6 different aryl derivatives, namely p-terphenyl, biphenyl, m-terphenyl, dibenzo-18-crown 6, 9,9-dimethylfluorene and 1,2-diphenylethane, with p-terphenyl and 4-acetylpyridine under relatively mild conditions. These polymers showed excellent solubility in solvents such as N-methyl pyrrolidone and chloroform. It is found that the chemical structure of the copolymer has a significant influence on the properties of the polymer membrane. Introducing twisted, hydrophilic or bulky groups into the copolymer skeleton obviously improves the acid doping ability and proton conductivity of P(TP-co-x) membranes. The fuel cell assembled with P(TP-co-DMF)/194%PA membrane with the best comprehensive performance has a peak power density of 947 mW cm-2 without external humidification or back pressure. This research provides excellent membrane materials for HT-PEMFC.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China and the national undergraduate innovation and entrepreneurship training program have provided strong support for this research.
