A simple and broadly applicable preparation procedure to obtain silica-supported transition metal (namely Cr, Co and Mn)-based radical scavengers, containing sulfonic acid functionalities, is reported. These systems are widely characterised in terms of structure, bulk and surface composition and morphology by X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF), X-Ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The scavenger material is loaded in ePTFE reinforced membranes prepared from Aquivion (R) perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) dispersions. All these composite membranes show longer lifetime in Accelerated Stress Tests (AST) and reduced fluoride release in Fenton's tests than the scavenger-free membranes without any loss in electrochemical performance. The Cr-scavenger-based polymer electrolyte shows a three-time larger stability than the pristine membrane. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.