TY  - EJOU
AU  - AZAD, ABDUL KALAM 
AU  - GUPTA, ARVIND 
AU  - UNNIKRISHNAN, LAKSHMI 
AU  - MOHANTY, SMITA 

TI  - Sulfonated Poly (Ether Ether Ketone) and its Blended Nanocomposite for Proton Conducting Membranes
T2  - Journal of Polymer Materials

PY  - 2021
VL  - 38
IS  - 1-2
SN  - 0976-3449

AB  - Proton conducting hydrophilic channels were created successfully in poly (ether ether ketone)
(PEEK) by means of step by step modification followed by the optimization of sulfonation
process (SPEEK70, DS=68.57%). Although highly sulfonated PEEK has excellent proton
conductivity, it lacks in mechanical stability due to low swelling degree. Therefore, a potential
method has been proposed in this work by integrating poly (sulfone) and nanosilica (SiO<sub>2</sub>
) into
SPEEK matrix. SPEEK 70 (S) was utilized to prepare blended nanocomposite membranes for
further enhancement of hydrophilic channels. The blended nanocomposite membranes are,
SPEEK/SiO<sub>2</sub>
 as SNS, SPEEK blended with poly (sulfone) as SP, SPEEK blended with sulfonated
poly (sulfone) as SSP and SPEEK blended with sulfonated poly (sulfone)/ (SiO<sub>2</sub>
) as SSPNS.
All the prepared membranes were characterized and its performance was discussed in detail to
identify the appropriate membrane for the better replacement of Nafion. Expected intermolecular
interaction and its obstruction of free hydrophilic channels were confirmed with the gradual
increase in proton conductivity from 0.0165 to 0.2557mS/cm.
KW  - Sulfonated PEEK
KW  -  Blended nanocomposite
KW  -  Water uptake
KW  -  Proton conductivity

DO  - 10.32381/JPM.2021.38.1-2.10