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Enhancement of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)-based proton exchange membranes doped with different ionic liquids cations

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Abstract

Herein, to balance the overall performance of SPEEK membrane, the imidazolium hydrogen sulfate (Im.HSO4), 1-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate (MI.HSO4), and 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate (BMI.HSO4) ionic liquids (ILs) were used as dopants in polymer matrix. A series of SPEEK/ionic liquid composite membranes were successfully fabricated by casting method and evaluated. Comparative studies showed that the membranes doped with 5 wt.% of MI.HSO4 or BMI.HSO4 ILs showed an increase in the proton conductivity of 50% and 30% at 80 °C, respectively, compared with the pristine SPEEK membrane. The proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) performance demonstrated that the membrane doped with 5 wt.% of BMI.HSO4 IL (SBMI5) has the highest current density value and the highest power density without loss of performance as temperature increases. This result indicates that this membrane is promising for fuel cells application.

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Funding

The support of this research by CAPES (Finance Code 001), FAPESP (#2013/07296-2), and CNPq is gratefully acknowledged. The authors also acknowledgment the company Victrex for the grant of PEEK polymer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Chemistry Department, Federal University of São Carlos, P. O. Box 676, São Carlos, SP, 13560-970, Brazil

    Letícia Guerreiro da Trindade, Josiane Carneiro Souza, Edson Roberto Leite & Ernesto Chaves Pereira

  2. Department of Chemistry, Universidade Estadual Paulista–Unesp, P.O. Box 473, Bauru, SP, 17033-360, Brazil

    Letícia Guerreiro da Trindade

  3. LRC-Institute of Chemistry, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, P. O. Box 15003, Porto Alegre, RS, 91501-970, Brazil

    Letícia Zanchet & Emilse Maria Agostini Martini

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  1. Letícia Guerreiro da Trindade
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da Trindade, L.G., Zanchet, L., Souza, J.C. et al. Enhancement of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)-based proton exchange membranes doped with different ionic liquids cations. Ionics 26, 5661–5672 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-020-03684-5

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