Proton conducting sol–gel sulfonated membranes produced from 2-allylphenol, 3-glycidoxypropyl trimethoxysilane and tetraethyl orthosilicate

An important research area in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) is devoted to the development of low cost membranes able to work at temperatures higher than 100 °C. In this work, homogeneous, transparent and crack-free hybrid membranes have been synthesized using tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS), 3-glycidoxipropyl trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) and 2-allylphenol (AP) as precursors. The synthesis of proton conducting membranes was performed by a post-sulfonation method using trimethylsilyl chlorosulfonate as a mild sulfonating agent. The water retention properties provided by sulfonate and hydroxyl groups and the high porosity leads to relatively high proton conductivity (maximum values around 1.3 × 10−3 S cm−1 at 140 °C and 100% RH) for membranes treated at 180 °C and sulfonated for 2 h.