Sandwich assembly of sulfonated poly (ether sulfone) with sulfonated multiwalled carbon nanotubes as an efficient architecture for enhanced electrolyte performance in H2/O2 fuel cells

Proton exchange membrane (PEM) for H-2/O-2 fuel cell are made as sandwich assembly of sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) (SPES) with sulfonic acid functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (SMWCNT). The SMWCNT occupies at the middle layer enhances the interfacial interplay and interconnects the nano-phase separation via hydrogen bond between the sulfonic acid of SPES and SMWCNT. The sandwich structure improves the integration of hydrophilic and hydrophobic layers of SPES and SMWCNT, that obliviously enhance the tensile and mechanical property of the membrane. Thus promotes the continuous proton conducting channels through the sandwiched morphology by using the proton hopping mechanism. The 1.5 wt% of SMWCNT in SPES (G3) offers high proton conductivity, current and power density values at 80 degrees C under 100% RH, which are 72.0 x 10(-3) S cm(-1), 778.26 mA cm(-2) and 173.29 mW cm(-2), respectively. Within addition to remarkable durability, the OCV degradation is about 0.02 V after 15 hours of durability test and H-2 permeability of 2.14 barrer. The excellent thermal stability of 91.2 wt% at 150 degrees C and the Young's modulus of 2208 +/- 110 MPa was attained by the G3, which strongly suggest that the promising nature of PEM.

Automated summary

The sandwich structure of proton exchange membrane (PEM) made of sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) (SPES) and sulfonic acid functionalized multiwalled carbon nanotubes (SMWCNT) enhances proton conductivity and mechanical properties, exhibiting high thermal stability and promising nature for fuel cell applications.