Enhancement of Proton Transport in Nafion Membranes via Azol Functional Silica Nanoparticles for PEMFC Applications

This study comprises the production and characterization of multifunctional silica nanoparticles and their incorporation into Nafion for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications. A two-step method was used to produce Azole-SiO₂/Nafion; First, epoxy functional SiO₂ nanoparticles were functionalized with 5-Amino-Tetrazole (Tet-SiO₂), 3-Amino-1,2,4-Triazole (ATri-SiO₂), and 1H-1,2,4-Triazole (Tri-SiO₂) via ring opening of the epoxy unit. After the synthesis of functional nanoparticles, Nafion composite membranes were prepared via the mechanical mixing method. Azole-SiO₂/Nafion composite membranes were characterized by FT-IR, and TGA were used to investigate the structural thermal properties, and the results indicated that they were thermally stable up to approximately 380 °C. The anhydrous conductivity of the Nafion composite membranes were studied by a dielectric impedance analyzer and maximum conductivity was measured for N-SiO₂-Tet10 as 1.01 × 10⁻² (Scm⁻¹) at 160 °C.