Abstract Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) with degree of sulfonation of 50 mol.% (SPAES50) was synthesized for the preparation of a hydrocarbon-based membrane and ionomer, for application to proton-exchange membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE) as an alternative to Nafion™. The SPAES50 membrane showing the excellent physical and electrochemical properties as well as the SPAES50-based ionomer (P50) were prepared and applied to PEMWE to evaluate its performance. The effects of the membrane thickness and ionomer content were also investigated to realize high-performance SPAES-based PEMWE. The proposed SPAES-based PEMWE showed higher performance than that of commercial PEMWE with a Nafion™ membrane and ionomer. Additionally, this is the best performance reported to date, and it is attributed to the low ohmic resistance caused by the high proton conductivity of SPAES50 membrane and the small membrane thickness (20 μm). Therefore, we demonstrate the great potential of SPAES50 as a hydrocarbon-based membrane and ionomer in PEMWE.

中文翻译：

---

使用磺化聚（亚芳基醚砜）膜和离聚物的高性能质子交换膜水电解

摘要 合成磺化度为 50 mol.% 的磺化聚亚芳基醚砜 (SPAES50) 用于制备烃基膜和离聚物，用于质子交换膜水电解 (PEMWE) 作为替代品Nafion™。制备了具有优异物理和电化学性能的 SPAES50 膜以及基于 SPAES50 的离聚物 (P50)，并将其应用于 PEMWE 以评估其性能。还研究了膜厚度和离聚物含量的影响，以实现基于 SPAES 的高性能 PEMWE。提议的基于 SPAES 的 PEMWE 表现出比具有 Nafion™ 膜和离聚物的商业 PEMWE 更高的性能。此外，这是迄今为止报告的最佳表现，这归因于SPAES50膜的高质子传导性和小膜厚（20μm）导致的低欧姆电阻。因此，我们证明了 SPAES50 作为 PEMWE 中基于碳氢化合物的膜和离聚物的巨大潜力。