Recent advances in the functionalisation of polybenzimidazole and polyetherketone for fuel cell applications

This article reviews progress made over the past years in the functionalisa tion of polybenzimidazole and polyetherketones with a view to increasing th eir proton conduction properties without detriment to their thermohydrolyti c and chemical stability such that corresponding membranes may be employed in hydrogen oxygen lair) or direct methanol fuel cells. The approaches incl ude complexation of polybenzimidazole with acids, grafting of groups contai ning sulfonic acid moieties on to polybenzimidazole by N-substitution, and direct sulfonation of polyetherketones. A further approach concerns the inc orporation of inorganic proton conducting particles in the polymer matrix, and this is developed in detail for the case of hybrid sulfonated polyether etherketone-metal(IV) phosphate membranes. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. A ll rights reserved.