Design, synthesis and properties of polyaromatics with hydrophobic and hydrophilic long blocks as proton exchange membrane for PEM fuel cell application

Tetra-alkylsulfonate functionalized poly(aryl ether) membranes with nanosized hydrophilic channels for efficient proton conduction

“…Both the tensile strength and elongation at break decrease with the increase of IEC w , which can be attributed to the increasing content of water in the membrane that decreases the cohesion of the macromolecular chains. The mechanical properties of SFPAEs are similar to those of other advanced aromatic ionomers in literature with similar IEC w s [31,35] . While Nafion 212 possesses an ultrahigh elongation at break of 375.3%, a unique feature of aliphatic backbones, medium elongation at break is totally satisfying for electrochemical applications.…”

“…However, excess amount of water is always associated with excess swelling, destroying mechanical integrity of the membrane. The water uptake and swelling ratio of SFPAEs are moderate for PEM applications [35] .…”

“…To address these problems, many scientists have been working on the synthesis of tailored hydrocarbon structures to enhance the microscopic phase separation [32,33] . Several desirable structures have been validated, including hydrophilic-hydrophobic block copolymers [34,35] , densely sulfonated polymers [36,37] , and pendent sulfonated polymers [38,39] .…”

Fabrication and physico-chemical properties of iron titanate nanoparticles based sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) membrane for proton exchange membrane fuel cell application

“…The broken time of nanocomposite membranes in Fenton's reagent decreased compared with SP membrane. This is probably due to that hydrophilic nanoparticles enhance the water uptake of membranes and as a result increase attack of free radicals to the polymer backbone [49].…”

Hexafluoroisopropylidene based sulfonated new copolytriazoles: investigation of proton exchange membrane properties

“…Many researchers suggest that PEM properties depend on the chemical structure of the polymer and the phase separation between the hydrophilic and hydropho bic domains (10-12, 22-24, 40). The hydrophilic domains in the polymers are responsible for proton conductivity and the hydrophobic domains provide mechanical stability (41). Incorporation of fluorine in the polymer backbone is a suitable method to improve the phase separation between hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains in the polymers due to its selfassembling ability.…”