Synthesis of Functionalized Mesoporous Silica Proton Exchange Membranes

Due to its highly ordered structure and large surface area/volume ratio, mesoporous silica has been of great interest in the fields of catalysis, sensing, and absorption. The goal this project is to synthesize novel mesoporous silica and aluminosilica for use as a proton exchange membrane in fuel cells. Samples have been synthesized using a block copolymer species (Pluronic F127) as the templating agent. The silica is produced from the condensation of tetraethyloxysilane in order to produce cubic silica (SBA-16) thin films, and similarly aluminosilica is produced by the condensation of aluminum tri-sec butoxide with tetraethyloxysilane. Functional groups containing sulfonic acid moieties are being incorporated into the mesoporous materials through co-condensation during the synthesis and also by post-synthetic grafting. The influence of the functional group presence on the mesostructure and proton transport ability of the thin films is being examined.