POLYMER ELECTROLYTE MEMBRANE FUEL CELL FROM SULFONATED POLYSTYRENE AND MALEATED NATURAL RUBBER BLEND

One type of aromatic polymer that has been developed widely as a proton exchange membranes (PEM)
for fuel cell applications is sulfonated polystyrene (sPS). In this research, the PEM membrane was
prepared through the blending process of sulfonated polystyrene (sPS) and maleated natural rubber
(MNR), employing PE-g-MAH compatibilities to enhance the mechanical and conductivity properties.
Various amounts of sPS were used, namely 10%; 20%; 40% and 60% ratios respectively. The blending
process was performed in each dilute solution in the polymer, followed by a steam and casting process at
particular temperatures. The membrane produced was investigated with FT-IR spectroscopy, scanning
electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), water uptake and impedance analysis.
The results reveal that by increasing the concentration of sPS, lead to the declining of membrane Tg
values, indicating the high interaction between membrane-forming polymers. The membrane preparation
with a concentration of sPS ≥40%, which is in the MNR-sPS 40% and MNR-sPS 60% membranes show
better elasticity. On the other hand, the membrane prepared with 40% of sPS (MNR-sPS 40%) gives the
highest proton conductivity of 3.37 x 10-2 S cm-1, implying the potential to be applied as a PEM fuel cell
membrane