Patent ID: 7115334

Claim:
A gel electrolyte comprising: an acid; and a polymer compound, wherein the polymer compound is a partially methylated polybenzimidazole represented by Formula (1) where at least one substituent R group of the polybenzimidazole structure is a methyl group: where R is CH 3 or H and n is a number in the range of about 10 to about 100,000 wherein the partially methylated polybenzimidazole is a polymethylated benzimidazole with a degree of methylation less than about 80 mol %, and wherein the partially methylated polybenzimidazole comprises a mixture of poly(N-methylbenzimidazole) with a degree of methylation of about 100 mol % and polybenzimidazole with a degree of methylation of about 0 mol % and a poly(N-methylbenzimidazole) content of less than about 80 mol %.