A catalytic material is introduced into the polymer matrix to prepare a novel polymeric alkaline electrolyte membrane (AEM) which simultaneously increases ionic conductivity, reduces the fuel cross-over. In this work, the hydroxide anion exchange membrane is mainly composed of poly(vinylalcohol) and alkaline exchange resin. CoCl₂ is added into the poly(vinylalcohol) and alkaline exchange resin gel before casting the membrane to introduce catalytic materials. CoCl₂ is converted into CoOOH after the reaction with KOH solution. The crystallinity of the polymer matrix decreases and the ionic conductivity of the composite membrane is notably improved by the introduction of Co-species. A direct borohydride fuel cell using the composite membrane exhibits an open circuit voltage of 1.11 V at 30 °C, which is notably higher than that of cells using other AEMs. The cell using the composite membrane achieves a maximum power density of 283 mW cm⁻² at 60 °C while the cell using the membrane without Co-species only reaches 117 mW cm⁻² at the same conditions. The outstanding performance of the cell using the composite membrane benefits from impregnation of the catalytic Co-species in the membrane, which not only increases the ionic conductivity but also reduces electrode polarization thus improves the fuel cell performance. This work provides a new approach to develop high-performance fuel cells through adding catalysts in the electrolyte membrane.

将催化材料引入聚合物基体中以制备新型的聚合物碱性电解质膜（AEM），该膜同时增加离子电导率，减少燃料穿越。在这项工作中，氢氧根阴离子交换膜主要由聚乙烯醇和碱性交换树脂组成。在浇铸膜以引入催化材料之前，将CoCl ₂添加到聚乙烯醇和碱性交换树脂凝胶中。氯化钴₂与KOH溶液反应后，将其转化为CoOOH。通过引入Co物种，聚合物基质的结晶度降低并且复合膜的离子电导率显着提高。使用复合膜的直接氢硼化物燃料电池在30°C时显示1.11 V的开路电压，这明显高于使用其他AEM的电池的开路电压。使用复合膜的电池在60°C时可达到283 mW cm ^-2的最大功率密度，而使用不含Co物种的膜的电池仅可达到117 mW cm ^-2。在相同条件下。使用复合膜的电池出色的性能受益于膜中催化Co-species的浸渍，这不仅增加了离子电导率，而且减少了电极极化，因此改善了燃料电池的性能。这项工作提供了一种通过在电解质膜中添加催化剂来开发高性能燃料电池的新方法。