Sulfonated polymer/graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposites exhibit excellent properties as proton exchange membranes. However, few investigations on highly branched sulfonated poly(arylene ether)s (HBSPE)/GO nanocomposites as proton exchange membranes are reported. In order to obtain HBSPE-based nanocomposite membranes with better dispersibility and properties, a novel GO containing flexible alkylsulfonated side chains (SGO) is designed and prepared for the first time in this work. The HBSPE/SGO nanocomposite membranes with excellent dispersibility are successfully prepared. The properties of these membranes, including the mechanical properties, ion-exchange capacity, water uptake, proton conductivity, and methanol resistance, are characterized. The nanocomposite membranes exhibit higher tensile strength (32.67 MPa), higher proton conductivity (0.39 S cm⁻¹ at 80 °C) and lower methanol permeability (4.89 × 10⁻⁷ cm² s⁻¹) than the pristine membrane. The nanocomposite membranes also achieve a higher maximum power density (82.36 mW cm⁻²) than the pristine membrane (67.85 mW cm⁻²) in single-cell direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) tests, demonstrating their considerable potential for applications in DMFCs.

磺化的聚合物/氧化石墨烯（GO）纳米复合材料具有质子交换膜的优异性能。然而，关于质子交换膜高度支化的磺化聚亚芳基醚（HBSPE）/ GO纳米复合材料的研究很少。为了获得具有更好分散性和性能的基于HBSPE的纳米复合膜，本工作中首次设计并制备了一种新型的含柔性烷基磺化侧链的GO（SGO）。成功制备了具有优异分散性的HBSPE / SGO纳米复合膜。表征了这些膜的性质，包括机械性质，离子交换容量，吸水率，质子传导率和耐甲醇性。纳米复合膜表现出更高的拉伸强度（32.67 MPa），更高的质子传导率（0。在80°C时为^-1），甲醇渗透率（4.89×10 ^-7  cm ²  s ^-1）低于原始膜。在单电池直接甲醇燃料电池（DMFC）测试中，纳米复合膜还比原始膜（67.85 mW cm ^-2）获得了更高的最大功率密度（82.36 mW cm ^-2），证明了它们在DMFC中的巨大应用潜力。