Long-term performance of DMFC based on the blend membrane of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) and poly(vinylidene fluoride)

A small amount of incorporation of PVdF to sPEEK membrane enhanced very significantly the interfacial stability between membrane and electrode due to the improved dimensional stability of membrane. The cell based on both the blend membrane and electrode with conventional Nafion binder could achieve a long-term stability up to 1650 h at 30 °C with high cell performance of 70 mW cm−2. The high chemical and dimensional stability of the blend membrane also contributed to long-term high performance of the cell. This is more meaningful because hydrocarbon-based membrane rather than Nafion membrane is used in the cell system. It is thus suggested that sPEEK (97.5 wt%)/PVdF (2.5 wt%) blend membrane can be a candidate for successful applications to high performance DMFC with high economic advantage.