| 초록 |
There have been many studies to increase the proton conductivity of sPEEK by controlling its DS. sPEEK with 60% degree of sulfonation (DS) has a proton conductivity of 0.06 S/cm at 80 °C/100% RH, only 50% of that of Nafion. As DS of sPEEK increased, the proton conductivity also increased. However, sPEEK with high DS consequently is accompanied by excessive water swelling causing poor mechanical properties and therefore it is needed to improve proton conductivity without mechanical degradation. Nanoparticles functionalized with sulfonic acid (NP-SA) was nanocomposited with sPEEK and their proton conductivity increased up to 0.1 S/cm at 80 °C/100% RH because hygroscopic NP-SA enlarged ion cluster and offered additional proton sources in ionic channel. Moreover, cell performance of nanocomposites surpassed that of Nafion (1.05 A/cm2). Therefore, we expect that this superb nanocomposites membrane would be applicable to next-generation PEMFC instead of Nafion. |
