Blend membranes based on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) and poly(vinylidene fluoride) for high performance direct methanol fuel cell

Abstract

Various polymeric blends based on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (sPEEK)/poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVdF) were prepared for the membranes of direct methanol fuel cell. The blend membranes showed good compatibility within a limited composition range of less than around 10 wt% of PVdF. The blend membrane containing 2.5 wt% exhibited highest proton conductivity at room temperature among the tested blends. The dimensional stability was enhanced with introducing PVdF into the blend membrane. These could contribute to high performance of the cell based on the blend membrane. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.