Modified sulfonated Poly(arylene ether) multiblock copolymers containing highly sulfonated blocks for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells

Enhancing Physicochemical Properties and Single Cell Performance of Sulfonated Poly(arylene ether) (SPAE) Membrane by Incorporation of Phosphotungstic Acid and Graphene Oxide: A Potential Electrolyte for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

The development of potential and novel proton exchange membranes (PEMs) is imperative for the further commercialization of PEM fuel cells (PEMFCs). In this work, phosphotungstic acid (PWA) and graphene oxide (GO) were integrated into sulfonated poly(arylene ether) (SPAE) through a solution casting approach to create a potential composite membrane for PEMFC applications. Thermal stability of membranes was observed using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and the SPAE/GO/PWA membranes exhibited high thermal stability compared to pristine SPAE membranes, owing to the interaction between SPAEK, GO, and PWA. By using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM), we observed that GO and PWA were evenly distributed throughout the SPAE matrix. The SPAE/GO/PWA composite membrane comprising 0.7 wt% GO and 36 wt% PWA exhibited a maximum proton conductivity of 186.3 mS cm^-1 at 90 °C under 100% relative humidity (RH). As a result, SPAE/GO/PWA composite membrane exhibited 193.3 mW cm^-2 of the maximum power density at 70 °C under 100% RH in PEMFCs.

On the Conductivity of Proton-Exchange Membranes Based on Multiblock Copolymers of Sulfonated Polysulfone and Polyphenylsulfone: An Experimental and Modeling Study

The effect of relative humidity (RH) and degree of sulfonation (DS) on the ionic conductivity and water uptake of proton-exchange membranes based on sulfonated multiblock copolymers composed of polysulfone (PSU) and polyphenylsulfone (PPSU) is examined experimentally and numerically. Three membranes with a different DS and ion-exchange capacity are analyzed. The heterogeneous structure of the membranes shows a random distribution of sulfonated (hydrophilic) and non-sulfonated (hydrophobic) domains, whose proton conductivity is modeled based on percolation theory. The mesoscopic model solves simplified Nernst-Planck and charge conservation equations on a random cubic network. Good agreement is found between the measured ionic conductivity and water uptake and the model predictions. The ionic conductivity increases with RH due to both the growth of the hydrated volume available for conduction and the decrease of the tortuosity of ionic transport pathways. Moreover, the results show that the ionic conductivity increases nonlinearly with DS, experiencing a strong rise when the DS is varied from 0.45 to 0.70, even though the water uptake of the membranes remains nearly the same. In contrast, the increase of the ionic conductivity between DS=0.70 and DS=0.79 is significantly lower, but the water uptake increases sharply. This is explained by the lack of microphase separation of both copolymer blocks when the DS is exceedingly high. Encouragingly, the copolymer membranes demonstrate a similar performance to Nafion under well hydrated conditions, which can be further optimized by a combination of numerical modeling and experimental characterization to develop new-generation membranes with better properties.

Synthesis and Properties of Fluorocarbon-Hydrocarbon Hybrid Block Copolymers with Perfluorosulfonimide Acid

Novel fluorocarbon-hydrocarbon hybrid block copolymer electrolytes were synthesized. The block copolymer electrolytes consist of poly(perfluoropropyl sulfonimide) (PC3SI) as a perfluorinated hydrophilic segment and poly(ether ether sulfone) as a hydrocarbon hydrophobic segment. The sulfonimide group of poly(perfluoropropyl sulfonimide) has superacidity, very low equivalent weight (EW = 293 g/equiv), and a proton conductivity of 1.2 × 10^-2 S/cm under dry conditions and 25 °C, although soluble in water. The proton conductivity of the block copolymer was 1.7 × 10^-3 S/cm at 20% relative humidity and 25 °C, which is three times as high as that of Nafion 112.

Improved Physicochemical Stability and High Ion Transportation of Poly(Arylene Ether Sulfone) Blocks Containing a Fluorinated Hydrophobic Part for Anion Exchange Membrane Applications

A series of anion exchange membranes composed of partially fluorinated poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (PAESs) multiblock copolymers bearing quaternary ammonium groups were synthesized with controlled lengths of the hydrophilic precursor and hydrophobic oligomer via direct polycondensation. The chloromethylation and quaternization proceeded well by optimizing the reaction conditions to improve hydroxide conductivity and physical stability, and the fabricated membranes were very flexible and transparent. Atomic force microscope images of quaternized PAES (QN-PAES) membranes showed excellent hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase separation and distinct ion transition channels. An extended architecture of phase separation was observed by increasing the hydrophilic oligomer length, which resulted in significant improvements in the water uptake, ion exchange capacity, and hydroxide conductivity. Furthermore, the open circuit voltage (OCV) of QN-PAES X10Y23 and X10Y13 was found to be above 0.9 V, and the maximum power density of QN-PAES X10Y13 was 131.7 mW cm-2 at 60 °C under 100% RH.

Enhanced Performance of a Sulfonated Poly(arylene ether ketone) Block Copolymer Bearing Pendant Sulfonic Acid Groups for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells Operating at 80% Relative Humidity

The series of sulfonated poly(arylene ether ketone) (SPAEK) block copolymers with controlled F-oligomer length bearing pendant diphenyl unit were synthesized via a polycondensation reaction. Sulfonation was verified by ¹H NMR analysis to introduce sulfonic acid group selectively and intensively on the pendant diphenyl unit of polymer backbones. The SPAEK membranes fabricated by the solution casting approach were very transparent and flexible with the thickness of ∼50 μm. These membranes with different F-oligomer lengths were investigated to the physiochemical properties such as water absorption, dimensional stability, ion exchange capacity, and proton conductivity. As a result, the SPAEK membranes (X4.8Y8.8, X7.5Y8.8, and X9.1Y8.8) in accordance to increasing the length of hydrophilic oligomer showed excellent proton conductivity in range of 131-154 mS cm^-1 compared to Nafion-115 (131 mS cm^-1) at 90 °C under 100% relative humidity (RH). Among the SPAEK membranes, proton conductivity of SPAEK X9.1Y8.8 (140.7 mS cm^-1) is higher than that of Nafion-115 (102 mS cm^-1) at 90 °C under 80% RH. The atomic force microscopy image demonstrated that number of ion transport channels is increased with increase in the length of hydrophilic oligomer in the main chains, and the morphology is proved to be related to the proton conductivity. The synthesized SPAEK membrane exhibited a maximum power density of 324 mW cm^-2, which is higher than that of Nafion-115 (291 mW cm^-2) at 60 °C under 100% RH.