This article reviews recent progress in the proton conducting polymer electrolyte membranes for fuel cell applications. Functionalization of aromatic hydrocarbon polymers such as poly ether ether ketone (PEEK), polysulfone (PSF), polyphenylene sulfide (PPS), polyimide (PI), polybenzimidazole (PBI), polyphosphazene, and fluorinated polystyrene is described. The approaches include direct sulfonation, polymerization of functionalized monomers, sulfo-and phosphoalkylation, and acid/base complexation. High proton conductivity, (up to 0.3 Scm
-1 at RH 100% and 20°C) has been obtained for these polymer electrolyte membranes. Since hydrophobic/hydrophilic separation for hydrocarbon polymer electrolytes is less pronounced than that of perfluorinated ionomer, acid functional groups should be placed closely each other and apart from the hydrophobic segments for high proton conductivity as well as oxidative and hydrolytic stability. Proton conduction under nonaqueous conditions (without humidification) is also proposed for sulfonated PPS/oligo (ethylene oxide) composite and polyhydroxylated fullerene.
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