Preparation and Properties of Blend Membranes of Highly Sulfonated Polysulfone/Fully Fluorinated Poly(Aryl Ether) for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Application

Polymer fuel cell as renewable energy device is of attention to commercialize. Polymer membranes as the heart of this technology determine the final performance and cost. In this paper, a sulfonated/fluorinated blend structure is prepared and characterized for potential application in fuel cell. A highly sulfonated polysulfone with 70% sulfonation degree and a fully fluorinated poly(aryl ether) were synthesized as blend components. Casting the prepared solution from the physical blending of the two compoents was conducted to prepare membranes. Measurements of water uptake, ion exchange capacity, proton cnductivtiy, oxidative stability, and tensile were shown promising results. The insertion of highly sulfonated and fully fluorinated components has brought good proton conductivtiy of 65 and 95 mS/cm at low IEC vlaues of 0.24 and 0.36 meq/g, respectivly.