Lee, Hye-Jin Kwon, Yeonhye Lee, So Young Choi, Jieun Kim, Bo Hyun Henkensmeier, Dirk Jang, Jong Hyun Yoo, Sung Jong Kim, Jin-Young Kim, Hyoung-Juhn Kim, Hwayong Kim, Man-Ho 2024-01-20T04:31:04Z 2024-01-20T04:31:04Z 2021-09-03 2016-05 2046-2069 https://pubs.kist.re.kr/handle/201004/124144 The blend of sulfonated poly(ether sulfone)s (PESs) with different degrees of sulfonation is used to prepare a membrane for fuel cell applications. Considering their facile preparation and excellent performance, such sulfonated PES blends constitute good candidates as polymer electrolyte for fuel cell applications. The long-term durability of the blend membrane is improved compared to unblended sulfonated polymer membranes with one degree of sulfonation. The nano-to-micron scale morphology of the polymer blend is investigated by transmission electron microscopy. The long-term stability of the blend membrane is related to its morphology, as confirmed by ultra small angle and small angle neutron scattering (USANS and SANS, respectively) analyses. The blend membrane comprises better-defined interconnected nano-sized ionic phases that enhance proton conductivity and water flow and micro heterogeneous domains, which could be reasons for the long-term durability. English Royal Society of Chemistry Facile preparation of a long-term durable nano- and micro-structured polymer blend membrane for a proton exchange membrane fuel cell Article 10.1039/c6ra05624e 1 RSC Advances, v.6, no.52, pp.46516 - 46522 RSC Advances 6 52 46516 46522 N scie scopus 000377254800053 2-s2.0-84969915988 Chemistry, Multidisciplinary Chemistry Article POLY(ARYLENE ETHER SULFONE) POLY(ETHER KETONE KETONE) MULTIBLOCK COPOLYMERS MORPHOLOGY CONTROL TEMPERATURE DEGRADATION PERFORMANCE HYDROCARBON ACID proton exchange membrane fuel cell sulfonated PES blends