• Río, Carmen Del
• Gorban, Ivan
• Soldatov, Mikhail
• Varez, Alejandro
• Ureña, Maria De Las Nieves
• Levenfeld, Belen
• Teresa, Pérez Prior María

Abstract

<jats:p>Novel proton-conducting hybrid membranes consisting of sulfonated multiblock copolymer of polysulfone and polyphenylsulfone (SPES) reinforced with a HKUST-1 metal-organic framework (MOF) (5, 10, and 20 wt. %) were prepared and characterized for fuel cell applications. The presence of the MOF in the copolymer was confirmed by means of FE-SEM and EDS. The hybrid membranes show a lower contact angle value than the pure SPES, in agreement with the water uptake (WU%), i.e., by adding 5 wt. % of the MOF, this parameter increases by 20% and 40% at 30 °C and 60 °C, respectively. Additionally, the presence of the MOF increases the ion exchange capacity (IEC) from 1.62 to 1.93 mequivH+ g−1. Thermogravimetric analysis reveals that the hybrid membranes demonstrate high thermal stability in the fuel cell operation temperature range (&lt;100 °C). The addition of the MOF maintains the mechanical stability of the membranes (TS &gt; 85 MPa in the Na+ form). Proton conductivity was analyzed using EIS, achieving the highest value with a 5 wt. % load of the HKUST-1. This value is lower than that observed for the HKUST-1/Nafion system. However, polarization and power density curves show a remarkably better performance of the hybrid membranes in comparison to both the pure SPES and the pure Nafion membranes.</jats:p>

Topics

• density
• thermogravimetry
• electrochemical-induced impedance spectroscopy
• Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy
• copolymer
• field-emission scanning electron microscopy
• ion-exclusion chromatography
• ion-exchange chromatography