A novel side-chain-type sulfonated aromatic diamine, 5-[1,1-bis(4-aminophenyl)-2,2,2-trifluoroethyl]-2-(4-sulfophenoxy)benzen esulfonic acid (BABSA) was synthesized and characterized. Two series of sulfonated polymides (SPI-N and SPI-B) were prepared from 1,4,5,8-naphthalene tetracarboxylic dianhydride (NTDA) or 4,4'-binaphthyl-1,1',8,8'-tetracarboxylic dianhydride (BNTDA), sulfonated diamine BABSA and various non-sulfonated aromatic diamines. The resulting sulfonated polyimide (SPI) membranes exhibited good dimensional stability with isotropic swelling of 7-22% and high thermal stability with desulfonation temperature of 283-330 degrees C. These membranes also displayed excellent oxidation stability and good water stability. The SPI membranes exhibited better permselectivity than Nation 115 membrane due to their much lower methanol permeability. The ratios of proton conductivity to methanol permeability (Phi) for the SPI membranes were almost two to three times of that for Nafion 115. The SPI-N membranes exhibited excellent conducting performance with the proton conductivity higher than Nation 115 as the temperature over 40 degrees C, which attributed to their good hydrophobic/hydrophilic microphase separation structure. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.