Polymer electrolyte fuel cell, electrolyte material therefore and method for its production
AssigneeAsahi Glass Company, Limited
InventorAtsushi Watakabe
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Abstract
An electrolyte material for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, which is made of a copolymer comprising repeating units based on CF2═CFCF2OCF2CF2SO3H and repeating units based on tetrafluoroethylene and which has an ion exchange capacity of from 0.9 to 1.5 (meq/g dry resin). This electrolyte material has ion conductivity and durability equal to conventional electrolyte material, is easy to synthesize, has a softening point higher than electrolyte material heretofore widely used for application to fuel cells and is suitable for operation of a polymer electrolyte fuel cell at a temperature higher than the conventional material.
Claims12
A method for producing an electrolyte material for a polymer electrolyte fuel cell, which is made of a copolymer comprising repeating units based on a monomer of the formula (1) and repeating units based on tetrafluoroethylene and which has an ion exchange capacity of from 0.9 to 1.5 (meq/g dry resin), the method comprising subjecting tetrafluoroethylene and a monomer of the formula (2) in the presence of an initiator of a perfluoro compound to radical copolymerization at from 60 to 100° C.:
- CF2═CFCF2OCF2CF2SO3H (1)
- CF2═CFCF2OCF2CF2SO2F (2)
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.