A Polymer Electrolyte for Operation at Temperatures up to 200°C

In developing advanced fuel cells and other electrochemical reactors, it is desirable to combine the advantages of solid polymer electrolytes with the enhanced catalytic activity associated with temperatures above 100 C. This will require polymer electrolytes which retain high ionic conductivity at temperatures above the boiling point of water. One possibility is to equilibrate standard perfluorosulfonic acid polymer electrolytes such as Nafion, with a high boiling point Bronsted base such as phosphoric acid. The Nafion/H[sub 3]PO[sub 4] electrolyte has been evaluated with respect to water content, ionic conductivity and transport of oxygen, and methanol vapor. The results show that at elevated temperatures reasonably high conductivity (>0.05 [Omega][sup [minus]1] cm[sup [minus]1]) can be obtained. Methanol permeability is shown to be proportional to the methanol vapor activity and thus decreases with increasing temperature for a given partial pressure. Comparisons and distinctions between this electrolyte and pure phosphoric acid are also considered.