Advanced nanocomposite membranes based on sulfonated polyethersulfone: influence of nanoparticles on PEMFC performance

Abstract

Two types of innovative new nanocomposite membranes based on sulfonated polyether sulfone (SPES) containing LaCrO3 and TiO2 nanoparticles were prepared in the present study and studied for their possible employment in proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. The nanocomposite membranes demonstrated high thermal and mechanical stability compared with pure SPES membrane due to the presence of TiO2 and LaCrO3 nanoparticles. The SPES–LaCrO3 nanocomposite membranes displayed high proton conductivity and fuel cell performance compared to SPES–TiO2 nanocomposite membranes due to fast proton transfer of LaCrO3 nanoparticles, which acted as water trap due to rotational motion of the proton in their perovskites structure. The proton conductivity and current density (at 0.5 V) at 80 °C were obtained 82 mS/cm and 0.92 A/cm2, respectively, for the SPES–LaCrO3 nanocomposite membranes containing 1 wt% of LaCrO3 nanoparticles. According to the obtained results from this study, the SPES–LaCrO3 nanocomposite membranes are promising membranes for PEM fuel cells.