Interfacial interactions in aprotic ionic liquid based protonic membrane and its correlation with high temperature conductivity and thermal properties.

Novel supported liquid membranes (SLMs) have been developed by impregnating Nafion and Hyflon membranes with ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (BMI-BTSI). These supported liquid membranes were characterized in terms of their ionic liquid uptake behavior, leaching of ionic liquid by water, thermal stability, mechanical properties, glass transition temperature, ion exchange capacity, and proton conductivity. In general, modified membranes are more flexible than unmodified samples due to the plasticization effects of the ionic liquid. However, these supported liquid membranes exhibit a significant increase in their operational stability and proton conductivity over unmodified membranes. We also demonstrate that proton conductivity of these supported liquid membranes allows conduction of protons in anhydrous conditions with conductivity increasing with temperature. Conductivity of up to 3.58 mS cm(-1) has been achieved at 160 degrees C in dry conditions, making these materials promising for various electrochemical applications.