Membrane Science and Technology

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Structural design and performance study of high hydrogen barrier polyurethane-polyurea proton exchange membranes

Authors： ZHANG Gengchen1,2, PANG Long2, ZHANG Xiaoyan1, JIANG Heqing2

Units： 1. College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Qingdao University, Qingdao 266071, China;
2. Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences,
Qingdao 266101, China

KeyWords： polyurethane; proton exchange membrane; hydrogen barrier; proton conduction

ClassificationCode：TQ317

year,volume(issue):pagination： 2026, 46(3):109-119

Abstract：

Low hydrogen permeability coefficient of proton exchange membrane (PEM) is critical for ensuring operational safety and high energy efficiency. This paper proposed a novel phosphoric acid (PA)-doped block polyurethane-polyurea (PUA) proton exchange membrane, which exhibited excellent proton conductivity while significantly suppressing hydrogen permeation. The rigid block, copolymerized from bisphenol A (BPA) and methylene diphenyl diisocyanate (MDI), provided mechanical strength to the membrane, whereas the flexible block, polymerized from N-aminoethylpiperazine (AEP) and hexamethylene diisocyanate (HDI), contained abundant tertiary amine functional groups serving as the primary doping sites for PA. The proposed PUA membrane achieved a maximum proton conductivity of 351.4 mS/cm at 80 ℃ and 98% relative humidity,and a hydrogen permeability coeffcient of only 1.86 Barrer. Furthermore, fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies were fabricated by introducing PFSA protective layers on both sides of the PUA membrane, achieving a power density of 54.72 mW/cm2. Owing to the low monomer cost, facile synthesis route, and mature membrane fabrication process of this PUA material, this study offers a new design pathway for the industrial scale-up of high-performance, low-cost proton exchange membranes.

Funds：

山东省重点研发计划资助(2023CXGC010417); 国家自然科学基金(22308365)

AuthorIntro：

第一作者简介：张庚辰（2000-），男，山东威海人，主要研究方向为质子交换膜.*通讯作者，庞龙，E-mail：panglong@qibebt.ac.cn；张晓燕，E-mail：xyzhang@qdu.edu.cn

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