New Approaches to the Preparation of Nanocomposite Proton Exchange Membranes for Fuel Cells

Experimental results on the development of two original approaches to obtaining new nanocomposite proton exchange membranes for low-temperature fuel cells are generalized. The first approach consists in in situ modification of the transport channels of commercial proton exchange membranes of the Nafion brand with interpenetrating polymer networks of the introduced polyelectrolyte based on cross-linked polystyrene sulfonate. The second approach is to create a proton exchange nanoscale phase based on polystyrene sulfonate in commercial hydrophobic polymer films. Polystyrene sulfonate is formed during thermal polymerization of styrene sorbed in the films without using ionizing radiation, followed by sulfonation. The influence of the conditions for obtaining membranes on the composition, morphology, transport properties, and results of testing the membranes in low-temperature fuel cells is considered.