Modification research of sulfonated PEEK membranes used in DMFC

Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK)/SiO2/zirconium phosphate (ZrP) composite membranes for direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) application were pretreated from corresponding materials by the Sol–Gel process. The SPEEK/SiO2/ZrP (80/10/10) composite membranes showed a methanol permeability of 2.4 × 10− 7 cm2/s, lower than that of the SPEEK and Nafion117 membrane. The DMFC single cell assembled by the SPEEK/SiO2/ZrP (80/10/10) membrane had the highest OCV of 0.584 V, and its power density reached 18.7 mW/cm2 when the current density was 75 mA/cm2.