effect of sulfonation degree and thermal treatment on the stability and proton conductivtiy of blend membranes of highly sulfonated polysulfone/fully fluorinated poly(aryl ether) for fuel cell application

Improving the stability and conductivtiy of proton exchange membranes, simultaneously is of high focus for fuel cell and similar systems. in this paper, the results of the study on the effect of thermal treatment on stability and proton conductivity of four blend membranes are reported. the effect of sulfonatino degree (ds) is also investigated. blend membranes were of sulfonated polysulfones with ds of 70 (bp70) and 100% (bp100) and a fully fluorinated poly(aryl ether) (faf). a simple thermal treatment procedure using the fully fluorinated structure of the blend component was applied. improved mechanical and oxidative stability as well as controlled water uptake for both ds of 70 and 100%, were the advantages of the treated samples, especially in the case of ds=100%. also, improved proton conductivtiy which was attributed to the formation of distinct ionic pathways by thermal treatment of hydrphilic/hydrophobic structure was fascinating.