Sulfonated mesoporous benzene-silica-embedded sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membranes for enhanced proton conduction and anti-dehydration

• Sulfonated mesoporous benzene-silica particles were embedded in sPEEK membranes.
• Composite membranes showed high proton conductivity at low humidity.
• Composite membranes exhibited low methanol permeability.
• The dehydration rate of the membrane was reduced by capillary condensation effect.

In polymer electrolyte fuel cell operation, a decrease in the proton conductivity of the membrane at reduced humidity is a main cause for poor cell performance at high temperature. To alleviate the dehydration of the membrane at high temperature, sulfonated mesoporous benzene-silica (sMBS) particles are embedded in sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (sPEEK) membranes. As the sMBS itself is highly sulfonated on both organic and inorganic moieties, the proton conductivity of composite membranes is much higher than that of the pristine sPEEK membrane, and it reaches that of Nafion 117 at a high relative humidity (RH) of 90%. The dehydration rate of the membrane is reduced significantly by the capillary condensation effect of sMBS particles with the nanometer-scale 2-D hexagonal cylindrical pores, and the proton conductivity of the composite membranes, 0.234 × 10−1 S cm−1, is much higher than that of pristine sPEEK membrane, 0.59 × 10−3 S cm−1, at a relatively low humidity of 40% RH. This maintenance of high conductivity at low humidity is attributed to the high water-holding capacity of the sMBS proton conductors. The sMBS-embedded sPEEK composite membranes show a much lower methanol permeability of 2–5 × 10−7 cm2 s−1 compared to that of Nafion 117, which is 1.6 × 10−6 cm2 s−1 at room temperature.