Proton Conductivity of Sulfonated Poly ( arylene ether sulfone ) Copolymer Proton Exchange Membranes at Elevated Temperatures ( 60-150 ° C )

Content Provider	Semantic Scholar
Author	Bennett, Jm Kim, Yern Seung Dong, L. McGrath, James
Copyright Year	2003
Abstract	The adhesion between the proton exchange membrane (PEM)-a proton conducting polymerand the catalyst is the focal point for improved performance of a fuel cell. Plasmas of different gases, acetylene and acetonitrile, have been used to modify the surface of polysulfone polymers to enhance adhesion of platinum-porous carbon catalyst to sulfonated polysulfone films which are used as PEMs. The surface of the films was characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Quiet good surface coverage could be obtained for treatments with acetylene and acetonitrile plasmas. The topography of the films and surface modified samples was obtained using atomic force microscopy, AFM. Finally, to investigate the adhesion between the polymer film and the catalyst, peel tests were performed. The peel test results indicated good adhesion between the modified proton exchange membrane and the platinum-porous carbon catalyst. Proton Conductivity of Sulfonated Poly(arylene ether sulfone) Copolymer Proton Exchange Membranes at Elevated Temperatures (60-150°C) J. Bennett *, Y. S. Kim, L. Dong and J. E. McGrath Department of Chemistry and the Materials Research Institute Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Blacksburg, VA 24061 Proton conductivities of sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) copolymers with systematically varied degrees of sulfonation were measured between 60-150 °C under fully humidified conditions. Results demonstrated that the proton conductivities of these proton exchange membranes (PEM’s) increased steadily with temperature, even beyond 100°C. The conductivities passed through a maximum before falling dramatically at higher temperatures. This maximum, referred to as the upper temperature limit, decreased with increasing degree of sulfonation. Thermal analyses of the membranes under hydrated conditions were utilized to probe the effects of hydration on Tg’s. Glass transition temperatures of the fully hydrated copolymers and their upper limit temperatures were within 40 °C for all of the copolymer membranes, including the control perfluorinated copolymer, NafionTM. Layer-by-Layer Self-Assembly of Nanostructured Polymeric Second Order Nonlinear Optic Ultrathin Films
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Alternate Webpage(s)	https://mii.vt.edu/content/dam/mii_vt_edu/reu-abstracts/2002%20REU%20Abstracts.pdf
Language	English
Access Restriction	Open
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article