Preparation of thin proton conductive inorganic-organic membranes based on 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane and tetraalkoxysilane using a glass paper

Abstract

Proton conductive inorganic-organic membranes supported by glass papers were prepared from 3-glycidoxypropyltrimethoxysilane, tetraalkoxysilane and orthophosphoric acid to reduce the thickness of membranes without loss of mechanical strength. Hybrid membranes with a thickness of about 50-80 micrometer were obtained by using a glass paper about 40 micrometer thick. The conductivity of the membrane with P/Si of 1.5 was about 1.0 x 10^-3 S cm^-1 at 130 ^oC and 7 % relative humidity. The power density of 120 mW cm^-2 were obtained from the test cells using the membrane supported by glass paper. These cells operated continuously for 50 hours.