Preparation and properties of chitosan/acidified attapulgite composite proton exchange membranes for fuel cell applications

Abstract A composite proton exchange membrane chitosan (CS)/attapulgite (ATP) was prepared with the organic–inorganic compounding of ATP and CS. The composite membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The mechanical properties, thermal stability, water uptake, and proton conductivity of the composite membranes were fully investigated. The composite membranes exhibited an enhanced mechanical property, dimensional and thermal stability compared to CS membrane, owing to the interface interaction between ATP and CS. The maximum tensile strength of 53.1 MPa and decomposition temperature of 223.4°C was obtained, respectively. More importantly, the proton conductivity of the composite membrane is also enhanced, the composite membrane with 4 wt% ATP content (CS/ATP‐4) exhibited the highest proton conductivity of 26.2 mS cm −1 at 80°C with 100% relative humidity, which is 25.1% higher than pure CS membrane. These results may explore a simple and green strategy to prepare CS‐based PEMs, which have a great potential in the application of proton exchange membrane fuel cells.