Proton conducting organic-inorganic nanocomposite membranes from MPTS and GPTS

Abstract

Novel fast proton-conducting organic-inorganic nanocomposite membranes were successfully fabricated. The polymer matrix obtained through proper oxidation of thiol ligands in (3-mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane (MPTS) and hydrolysis/condensation reaction of (3-glycidoxypropyl)trimethoxysilane (GPTS) showed relatively high proton conductivity over 10-2 S/cm at 25°C. The proton conductivities of the fabricated composite membranes increased up to 3.6 7times; 10-1 S/cm by increasing temperature and relative humidity to 70°C and 100% relative humidity. The high proton conductivity of the composites is due to the proton conducting path through the GPTS-derived pseudo-polyethylene oxide network in which sulfonic acid ligand work as proton donor. © 2005 The Electrochemical Society. All rights reserved.