Preparation of Proton Exchange Membranes by a Plasma Polymerization Method and Application in Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFCs)a

A low-frequency, after-glow, capacitively coupled plasma (CCP) discharge technology has been employed to prepare sulfonated plasma polymerized membranes. These plasma membranes have a higher percentage of proton exchange groups, a high proton conductivity and a low methanol permeability, compared with commercial available Nafion 117, and thus show a great potential in application to DMFCs.