Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated polyphenylene containing DCTPE for PEMFC potential application

703A series of SPPTPEs were synthesized by nickel catalyzed polymerization and sulfonation with concentrated sulfuric acid. Compared with Nafion 211® membrane, these SPPTPEs show reasonable IECs from 2.21 to 3.02 meq./g, water uptake from 52.84 to 114.19%, proton conductivity from 80.1 to 109.3 mS/cm, maximum power density from 0.48 to 0.63, and high thermal stability.