Anchoring Water Soluble Phosphotungstic Acid by Hybrid Fillers to Construct Three-Dimensional Proton Transport Networks.

Phosphotungstic acid (HPW)-filled composite proton exchange membranes possess high proton conductivity under low relative humidity (RH). However, the leaching of HPW limits their wide application. Herein, we propose a novel approach for anchoring water soluble phosphotungstic acid (HPW) by polydopamine (PDA) coated graphene oxide and halloysite nanotubes (DGO and DHNTs) in order to construct hybrid three-dimensional proton transport networks in a sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) membrane.

Enhanced Proton Conductivity in Sulfonated Poly(ether ether ketone) Membranes by Incorporating Sodium Dodecyl Benzene Sulfonate.

It is of great importance to improve the proton conductivity of proton exchange membranes by easy-handling and cost-efficient approaches. In this work, we incorporated a commercially obtained surfactant, sodium dodecyl benzene sulfonate (SDBS), into sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) through solution casting to prepare SPEEK/SDBS membranes. When no more than 10 wt % SDBS was added, the SDBS was well dissolved into the SPEEK matrix, and the activation energy for the proton transfer in the SPEEK/SDBS membranes was greatly reduced, leading to significant enhancement of the membrane proton conductivity.