Fabrication of Binary Sulfonated Poly Ether Sulfone and Sulfonated Polyvinylidene Fluoride-Co-Hexafluoro Propylene Blend Membrane as Efficient Electrolyte for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) is pivotal in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) with enhanced power performances. We reported a sulfonated (poly ether sulfone) (SPES) and sulfonated polyvinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoro propylene (SPVdF-HFP) blend membrane for the PEMFC. We fabricated the SPES/SPVdF-HFP blend membrane via a simple solvent-casting method with 10 or 20% of SPVdF-HFP. It exhibited enhanced proton conductivity and was assigned to the synergism between SPES and SPVdF-HFP. FE-SEM images of composite membrane revealed the effectual dispersion of SPVdF-HFP in the SPES matrix, which may offer an extend networks for facile proton conduction. Moreover, integration of SPVdF-HFP effectively increased the power density of blend membrane i.e., 262.78 mW/cm², it was higher by 1.51 fold compared to bare SPES membrane (173.67 mW/cm²).