The Preparation and Characteristics of Covalently Cross-Linked SPEEK/Cs-TPA/Ceria Composite Membranes for Water Electrolysis

Abstract

>> Ceria (CeO2) was used to scavenge free radicals which attack the membrane in the polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) circumstance and to increase the duration of the membrane. In order to improve the electrochemical, mechanical and electrocatalytic characteristics, engineering plastic of the sulfonated polyether ether ketone (SPEEK) as polymer matrix was prepared in the sulfonation reaction of polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and the organic-inorganic blended composite membranes were prepared by sol-gel casting method with loading the highly dispersed ceria and cesium-substituted tungstophosphoric acid (Cs-TPA) with cross-linking agent contents of 0.01 mL. In conclusion, CL-SPEEK/Cs-TPA/ceria (1%) membrane showed the optimum results such as 0.130 S/cm of proton conductivity at 80℃, 2.324 meq./g-dry-membrane of ion exchange capacity and mechanical characteristics, and 65.03 MPa of tensile strength which were better than Nafion 117 membrane.