Abstract
Crosslinked sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) membranes were prepared by the radiation crosslinking of SPEEK with various crosslinker contents. The prepared membranes were subjected to a comparative study of proton exchange membranes (PEM) for fuel cell applications. The crosslinked SPEEK membranes were characterized by 1H nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy (NMR), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy-attenuated total reflectance (FTIR-ATR), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and Small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). 1H NMR and FTIR-ATR confirmed the sulfonation and crosslinking of the membranes. DMA indicated that the ionic modulus and cluster T g increased with decreasing crosslinker content. This suggests that the amount of clustering in the crosslinked membrane could be reduced by increasing the crosslinker content. SAXS data showed that the crosslinker did not affect the ionic domain morphology in the membranes. The proton conductivity of all the membranes was > 10−2 S/cm. The overall findings suggest that the crosslinked SPEEK membranes offer the possibility for improving the performance of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), provided membranes with thermal and hydration stability.
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