Tiezhu Fu

Crosslinked hybrid membranes based on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)/γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane/phosphotungstic acid by an in situ sol–gel process for direct methanol fuel cells

Proton exchange membranes with high dimensional stabilities and low water uptakes were constructed by incorporating phosphotungstic acid (PWA) into a cross-linked network composed of a crosslinkable sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) containing dipropenyl groups (SDPEEK) and γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (KH570). The chemical structures of the hybrid membranes were confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results indicated that PWA particles were well dispersed in these membranes. The influences of the dispersed PWA on the properties of membranes such as thermal stability, water uptake, swelling ratio, proton conductivity, methanol permeability and mechanical property were researched. The addition of KH570-5/PWA in the hybrid membranes contributed to the improvement of the dimensional stabilities. And the hybrid membranes with 10–40wt% PWA showed higher proton conductivities than Nafion 117 at 80 °C, while the methanol permeabilities of these membranes were much lower than that of Nafion 117. The membranes also exhibited excellent mechanical properties. These results imply that the SDPEEK/KH570-5/PWA-x membranes are promising materials in the direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) applications.