Novel crosslinked quaternized-chitosan membranes were fabricated and further investigated for possible applications in alkaline polyelectrolyte fuel cells. impedance analysis indicated that some hydrated membranes could exhibit a conductivity close to 10(-2) S cm(-1). Several membranes were selected and integrated into unit fuel cells for the evaluations on their cell performance, using hydrogen as fuel, air as oxidant and platinum as the electrode catalyst, and a current density of 65 mA cm(-2) was already achieved with a flow rate of hydrogen at 50 mL min(-1) and air at 250 mL min(-1) at a relatively low running temperature of 50 C. (c) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.