Di-ureasil Hybrid Electrolytes Incorporating a New Proton Ionic Liquid

authors	Cardoso, MA; Leones, R; Rodrigues, LC; Fernandes, M; Figueiredo, FL; Nunes, SC; Silva, MM; Bermudez, VD
nationality	International
journal	CHEMELECTROCHEM
author keywords	conducting materials; di-ureasil hybrids; electrolytes; fuel cells; ionic liquids
keywords	FUEL-CELL ELECTROLYTES; CONDUCTING MEMBRANES; PHYSICOCHEMICAL PROPERTIES; POLYMER ELECTROLYTES; PHYSICAL-PROPERTIES; TEMPERATURE; SPECTROSCOPY; CHEMISTRY; ORMOLYTES; MELTS
abstract	The protic ionic liquid (PIL) N-butylimidazolium trifluoromethanesulfonate ([BIm][TfO]) was obtained for the first time and incorporated into a sol-gel-derived di-ureasil matrix with a concentration of X=5, 10, and 30%, where X is the ratio of the mass of PIL per mass of poly(oxyethylene). Four years after their synthesis, the resulting quasi-anhydrous electrolytes remained amorphous, homogeneous, flexible, and thermally stable below 200 degrees C. SEM/EDS data revealed the presence of the PIL at the surface of the xerogels with X>5%, demonstrating that this type of morphological characterization is mandatory to avoid misleading ionic conductivity values. The highest ionic conductivity was produced in the washed sample with X=30% (3.5 x 10(-5) and 2.1 x 10(-3) Scm(-1) at 25 and 170 degrees C, respectively). The present family of electrolytes yielded higher conductivities than the N-ethylimidazolium trifluoromethane-sulfonate-based analogues introduced earlier by our group and may thus be considered as promising candidates for applications in fuel cells.
publisher	WILEY-V C H VERLAG GMBH
issn	2196-0216
year published	2016
volume	3
issue	5
beginning page	783
ending page	789
digital object identifier (doi)	10.1002/celc.201500557
web of science category	Electrochemistry
subject category	Electrochemistry
unique article identifier	WOS:000379985500017