Properties Assessment of Synthesized Sulfonated Poly (ether sulfones) Containing Coupling Agent as Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cell Application

With respect to that in fuel cell field, researchers have focused on performance improvement and also membrane as electrolyte is one of the key components which determines fuel cell efficiency, in this study we synthesized random sulfonated copoly (ether sulfones) based on sulfonated and non- sulfonated bisfluorophenyl sulfone (BFPS), bishydroxyphenyl sulfone (bisphenol S) and decafluorobiphenyl (DFBP) as coupling agent (sulfonation degree (DS)= 35%, 45%, 55%) via nucleophilic aromatic substitution polycondensation reaction to obtain polymers with higher properties and performance. FTIR and H NMR characterizations confirmed the successful synthesis of sulfonated monomer and copolymers. TGA and DSC results showed excellent thermal properties of membranes. Mechanical properties of membranes were in accordance with molecular weight estimation from dilute solution viscometry. Ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake and oxidative stability measurement resulted in IEC in the range of 1.04-1.54 meq/g, (8.8-28.8)% water uptake and reasonable long life in Fenton test.