Transport Properties of Proton Exchange Membranes

Abstract

Disulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) random copolymers have shown promise as potential candidates for proton exchange membranes. The chemical structure of these copolymers has served as a basis for the molecular design of new random and multiblock copolymers. In random copolymers the sulfonic acid is distributed statistically, while in the multiblock copolymers the chemical structure is designed to have co continuous hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains. The effect of these variables on the transport properties of the membranes was investigated. For the random copolymers, high proton conductivity was observed at higher IEC along with high methanol permeability. But for the multiblock copolymers, it was possible to combine high proton conductivity with low methanol permeability. Improved proton conductivity was observed under partially hydrated conditions for samples with higher block lengths. Self diffusion coefficient of water was also measured by NMR which provided better understanding of the transport process.