Sulfonated Poly(Arylene Ether Sulfone) and Perfluorosulfonic Acid Composite Membranes Containing Perfluoropolyether Grafted Graphene Oxide for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Applications

Min-Young Lim; Kihyun Kim

doi:10.3390/polym10060569

Sulfonated Poly(Arylene Ether Sulfone) and Perfluorosulfonic Acid Composite Membranes Containing Perfluoropolyether Grafted Graphene Oxide for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Applications

Polymers (Basel). 2018 May 23;10(6):569. doi: 10.3390/polym10060569.

Authors

Min-Young Lim¹, Kihyun Kim²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Institute of Chemical Processes, Seoul National University, 599 Gwanak⁻ro, Gwanak⁻gu, Seoul 151⁻744, Korea. mywooya@hanmail.net.
² Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, NY 12180, USA. kimk14@rpi.edu.

Abstract

Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) (SPAES) and perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) composite membranes were prepared using perfluoropolyether grafted graphene oxide (PFPE-GO) as a reinforcing filler for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications. PFPE-GO was obtained by grafting poly(hexafluoropropylene oxide) having a carboxylic acid end group onto the surface of GO via ring opening reaction between the carboxylic acid group in poly(hexafluoropropylene oxide) and the epoxide groups in GO, using 4-dimethylaminopyridine as a base catalyst. Both SPAES and PFSA composite membranes containing PFPE-GO showed much improved mechanical strength and dimensional stability, compared to each linear SPAES and PFSA membrane, respectively. The enhanced mechanical strength and dimensional stability of composite membranes can be ascribed to the homogeneous dispersion of rigid conjugated carbon units in GO through the increased interfacial interactions between PFPE-GO and SPAES/PFSA matrices.

Keywords: composite membrane; perfluoropolyether grafted graphene oxide; perfluorosulfonic acid; polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell; sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone).