Structure–property interplay of proton conducting membranes based on PBI5N, SiO2–Im and H3PO4 for high temperature fuel cells

Polybenzimidazoles (PBIs) are among the polymers of choice to prepare membranes for high temperature polymer fuel cells. Poly-2,2′(2,6-pyridine)-5,5′-bibenzimidazole (PBI5N), doped with H3PO4, and acid-doped PBI5N containing 10 wt% of imidazole-functionalized silica membranes were studied with thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic-mechanical analysis, infrared spectroscopy, and broadband electric spectroscopy to examine the structure–property relationships. Key results show that: (1) doped PBI5N membranes show thermal decomposition starting at 120 °C, while pristine PBI5N is stable up to 300 °C; (2) the presence of filler increases the acid uptake and decreases the crystallinity of PBI5N; (3) the addition of phosphoric acid reduces the mechanical properties of the membrane, while the addition of filler has the opposite effect; (4) acid-doped membranes have conductivity values on the order of 10−2–10−3 S cm−1; and (5) membranes exhibit a Vogel–Tamman–Fulcher (VTF) type proton conduction mechanism, where proton hopping is coupled with the segmental motion of the polymer chain. Infrared spectroscopy combined with DFT quantum mechanical calculations was used to assign the experimental spectrum of PBI5N.