The high ion exchange capacity of sulfonated polyphenylsulfone (SPPSU) consists of nanotubular inorganic clay that was developed as a proton exchange membrane for fuel cell application. The nanotubular imogolite (Im) was incorporated into SPPSU polymer matrix under various loading (0.5 wt. %, 1 wt.%, and 2 wt.%) and subjected to thermal annealing up to 180 ºC. Upon heat treating at 180 ºC, SPPSU-Im nanocomposite membranes showing homogenous membrane structure and improved water uptake at higher water temperature compare to pristine SPPSU membrane. The strength of the nanocomposite membrane is decreasing upon the incorporation of the imogolite fillers. Hence, at lower relative humidity conditions, the SPPSU-Im nanocomposite membrane resulting in six times higher proton conductivity than the SPPSU membrane. Furthermore, at 80 °C under fully hydrated conditions, 1 wt.% of Im incorporate into the SPPSU matrix can achieve the maximum power density up to 89.8 mW/cm², which is about 16% higher than the maximum power density produce by SPPSU membrane in single-cell proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) system. The results indicating that the imogolite reinforced SPPSU polymer matrix shows significant improvements on the SPPSU polymer matrix as PEM in fuel cell applications.

磺化聚苯砜（SPPSU）的高离子交换能力由纳米管无机粘土组成，该纳米管被开发为燃料电池应用中的质子交换膜。在各种载荷（0.5  wt。％，1  wt。％和2 ）下将纳米管卵石（Im）掺入SPPSU聚合物基质中 wt。％）并经受高达180ºC的热退火。与原始的SPPSU膜相比，在180ºC热处理后，SPPSU-Im纳米复合膜显示出均匀的膜结构，并在较高的水温下改善了吸水率。纳米复合膜的强度在结合了卵黄石填充剂时降低。因此，在较低的相对湿度条件下，SPPSU-Im纳米复合膜的质子传导率是SPPSU膜的六倍。此外，在80°C的完全水合条件下，将1  wt。％的Im掺入SPPSU基体中可实现高达89.8  mW / cm ²的最大功率密度比单细胞质子交换膜燃料电池（PEMFC）系统中SPPSU膜产生的最大功率密度高约16％。结果表明，伊莫高石增强的SPPSU聚合物基体在燃料电池应用中对作为PEM的SPPSU聚合物基体显示出显着改善。