Sepiolite-Based Nanocomposite Blends of Fully Sulfonated Poly(ether ketone)/Non-sulfonated Poly(ether sulfone) as Proton Exchange Membranes

In this article nanocomposite blends of fully sulfonated poly(ether ketone) (PEK) and non-sulfonated poly(ether sulfone) (PES) were prepared from dual electrospinning process. Sepiolite as nanoparticle was just dispersed in non-sulfonated PES matrix to prevent barrier effects of nanoparticles against proton in these proton exchange membranes. The special producing technique of these membranes (using dual electrospinning process and melting just non-sulfonated sepiolite dispersed fibers) resulted membranes in which ionic paths ( fibers of fully sulfonated PEK) were embedded in a sepiolite dispersed non-ionic matrix. The presence of these ionic channels was proved by stained transmittance electron microscopy (sTEM). The thermal and mechanical properties and also water absorption, dimensional stability, and proton conductivity of these hydrophilic/hydrophobic phase separated membranes were measured and compared in different sepiolite and sulfonated fiber contents