Nano Composite Membranes of Sulfonated Poly(ether sulfone)s Containing DHTPE and SiO2 for PEMFC

Sulfonated poly (ethersulfone) s (S-PDHTPEs) were prepared from 4,4-(2,2-diphenylethenylidene) bisphenol (DHTPE), 4,4-sulfonyldiphenol, 4-fluorophenylsulfone using potassium carbonate, and followed sulfonation reaction with conc. sulfuric acid. DHTPE is a conjugated structure, which enables to form planar conformation between aromatic rings, and selectively sufonated on phenyl rings of polymer side chain. Composite membranes were prepared with copolymers and SiO2 nanoparticles (20 nm, 4~10%wt). The composite membranes were cast from DMSO. A series of composite membranes structures and characteristic were evaluated by the 1H-NMR spectroscopy, and thermal stabilities. The membranes were performed by ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake and proton conductivity as a function of degree of sulfonation.