TY - JOUR
T1 - Synthesis and characterization of multi-block poly(arylene ether sulfone) membranes with highly sulfonated blocks for use in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells
AU - Yuk, Jinok
AU - Lee, Sojeong
AU - Nugraha, Adam F.
AU - Lee, Hyejin
AU - Park, Seok Hee
AU - Yim, Sung Dae
AU - Bae, Byungchan
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was partly supported by the framework of the Research and Development Program of the Korea Institute of Energy Research (KIER) ( B6-2420 , 2524 ), and the Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) Grant ( 20143030031340 ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2016/11/15
Y1 - 2016/11/15
N2 - We synthesized novel sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (SPAESs) multi-block copolymer membranes containing highly sulfonated hydrophilic blocks. Two different kinds of multi-block SPAESs sharing the same structure of hydrophobic blocks were proposed to investigate the membrane properties based on the effects of the hydrophilic blocks bearing sulfonic acids. The higher local concentration and acidity of the sulfonic acid groups in the hydrophilic block induced higher proton conductivity. The block SPAESs showed comparable proton conductivities to those of the state-of-the-art perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes, and their transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed a well-developed phase separation. In particular, the SPAES 4 X10Y10 membrane showed excellent proton conductivity, which was higher than that of the PFSA over the entire relative humidity (RH) range at 80 °C. Moreover, the multi-block SPAES membranes showed a comparable fuel cell performance to the Nafion membranes, even at 50% and 30% RH.
AB - We synthesized novel sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (SPAESs) multi-block copolymer membranes containing highly sulfonated hydrophilic blocks. Two different kinds of multi-block SPAESs sharing the same structure of hydrophobic blocks were proposed to investigate the membrane properties based on the effects of the hydrophilic blocks bearing sulfonic acids. The higher local concentration and acidity of the sulfonic acid groups in the hydrophilic block induced higher proton conductivity. The block SPAESs showed comparable proton conductivities to those of the state-of-the-art perfluorinated sulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes, and their transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images revealed a well-developed phase separation. In particular, the SPAES 4 X10Y10 membrane showed excellent proton conductivity, which was higher than that of the PFSA over the entire relative humidity (RH) range at 80 °C. Moreover, the multi-block SPAES membranes showed a comparable fuel cell performance to the Nafion membranes, even at 50% and 30% RH.
KW - Multi-block copolymer
KW - Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell
KW - Proton conductivity
KW - Sulfonated(arylene ether sulfone)
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84978524249&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.memsci.2016.06.037
DO - 10.1016/j.memsci.2016.06.037
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84978524249
SN - 0376-7388
VL - 518
SP - 50
EP - 59
JO - Journal of Membrane Science
JF - Journal of Membrane Science
ER -