Researchers at E3, Dr. Keiichiro Maegawa, Dr. Mateusz Wlazło, and Prof. Atsushi Nagai, in collaboration with esteemed colleagues Prof. Atsunori Matsuda (Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology), Dr. Nguyen Huu Huy Phuc (Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology - HCMUT), Dr. Kazuhiro Hikima, and Dr. Go Kawamura (Department of Electrical and Electronic Information Engineering, Toyohashi University of Technology, have achieved a significant milestone in the world of fuel cells. Their recent study, published in Chemistry of Materials 2023, Volume 35, pages 7708–7718, brings promising advancements to medium-temperature anhydrous fuel cells.

🌟 Key Findings:

💡 They've successfully developed proton-conductive salts, a crucial component for medium-temperature PEMFC applications.
💡 By combining heterocyclic imidazole (Imi) with multiple acid species, they've created highly conductive composites suitable for anhydrous conditions.
💡 Mechanochemical milling incorporating SiO2 into imidazole hydrochloride (ImiHCl) significantly boosted proton conductivity compared to other materials.
💡 Their density functional theory (DFT) approach accurately predicted and explained proton conductivity, offering valuable insights into the proton conduction mechanism.
💡 The 60ImiHCl-40SiO2 composite demonstrated the highest proton conductivity of 1.4 × 10−2 S cm−1.
💡 A PBI-based electrolyte membrane prepared using this composite remarkably enhanced fuel cell performance to 521 mW cm−2 under anhydrous conditions at 150°C.

This research has the potential to revolutionize medium-temperature anhydrous fuel cells, bringing us closer to cleaner and more efficient energy solutions.

Congratulations to the research team for their remarkable contributions!

Read the full study online: https://lnkd.in/ddKiFimz