In the present work, proton exchange membranes were prepared from SEBS copolymer and natural latex modified with vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) to evaluate its performance as an electrolyte in a fuel cell through the characterization of its physicochemical and mechanical properties. The results show that the 0.5% V2O5 addition was favorable for the water absorption test due to its hydrophilic character. The ion exchange capacity had a similar behavior since water is the means for the main mechanisms of protons to occur inside the membrane. The stretching properties and maximum effort decrease with increasing the V2O5 load, but it boosted the Young's modulus. With the FTIR analysis, the presence of V2O5 was verified in the loaded membranes. Therefore, it is necessary to improve ion exchange capacity and mechanical properties to apply this membranes as an electrolyte in a fuel cell.

In the present work, proton exchange membranes from the SEBS copolymer and latex were synthesized and modified with the addition of vanadium pentoxide and sulfonation to evaluate its application in a fuel cell. Through the FTIR analysis the modifications of the polymer were evidenced. The results show that the increase of the sulfonation time increased the water uptake, the ion exchange capacity and the mechanical properties of the membrane due to the hydrophilic character of the sulfonic groups added to the polymer. In the loaded and sulfonated membranes, the results favored to a greater extent the membrane loaded 0.5% and sulfonated 2 hours due to the good interaction between the load and the sulfonic groups, but it is necessary to increase the ion exchange capacity for its use in fuel cells.