Polymers as functional components in batteries and fuel cells

Abstract

AbstractThe recent 10 years have seen an unprecedented development in the area of portable electronic devices: mobile phones, laptops, PDAS, and digital cameras have all become commodities on a large scale. All of these devices need a power supply in terms of a battery acceptable capacity, possibly rechargeable. This demand has triggered research and development in polymer materials science for lithium ion conducting polymers that could replace or avoid organic liquids as a supporting electrolyte. Moreover, polymers need to be optimized that act in the form of “gels” as framework and/or membrane materials to achieve mechanical integrity of the electrode compartments. Ionic conductivity for protons in polymeric systems is also the key issue in the development of so‐called polyelectrolyte‐membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) that are supposed to work as power sources for mobile applications, e.g. in hybrid cars. A liquid fuel such as methanol would be converted to CO2 and H2O with concomitant production of electricity. Novel proton conducting polymer systems are required that work at temperatures between 150–200°C, that is under more or less water‐free conditions. These requirements find an echo in the academic world in terms of renewed interest in the mechanisms of ionic transport phenomena in polymeric systems and in studies that aim for optimization of materials. In this article there will be a report on both lithium‐ion and proton conducting polymers that have been recently developed in the authors' laboratory. The results will be discussed in the context of the demands that need to be met for advanced technologies. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.