Development of covalently cross-linked and composite perfluorosulfonic acid membranes

A straight forward approach to increase proton conductivity at relatively dry conditions is to increase the number of sulfonic acid groups in the polymer. Although various PFSAs of significantly lower EW can be prepared, the limitation of this approach is that the polymer and membrane properties are also affected, with membranes showing increased water uptake and dimensional swelling. Our approach has been to develop a series of approaches for the cross-linking of PFSAs in order to improve membrane mechanical properties and reduce membrane swelling in the presence of water. Novel side-chain component multifunctional monomers have been developed that are cross-linkable after membrane fabrication. The result of this approach is that a suite of polymers have been synthesized that, after membrane casting and cross linking show excellent proton conductivity, even under conditions of elevated temperature and <50% RH.