Porous Proton Exchange Membrane with High Stability and Low Hydrogen Permeability Realized by Dense Double Skin Layers Constructed with Amino tris (methylene phosphonic acid)

Porous proton exchange membranes (PEMs) with abundant porous structures show enhanced phosphoric acid (PA) doping levels and proton transport capability. However, the high PA loss rate and serious hydrogen cross-over lead to poor membrane stability. Enhancing the stability of PA-doped porous PEMs is therefore crucial for obtaining high-performance proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Herein, a porous polybenzimidazole membrane with dense double skin layers is reported using amino tris (methylene phosphonic acid) (ATMP) constructed. This membrane effectively alleviates hydrogen permeation and PA loss in a water/anhydrous environment and exhibits enhanced stability. Surprisingly, as an organic proton conductor, ATMP has strong hydrogen bonding with PA, leading to the formation of more continuous proton transport channels. Due to the dense double skin layers protection and the synergistic mass transfer of ATMP and PA, the porous membrane shows excellent proton conductivity (0.112 S cm −1 ) and a H 2 -O 2 fuel cell peak power density of 0.98 W cm −2 at 160 °C. Moreover, it presents excellent fuel cell stability, with a voltage decay rate of only 5.46 µV h −1 . In addition, the porous membrane surpasses the traditional working temperature range, operating in the range of 80–220 °C. This study provides new insight into developing high-performance porous PEMs.