TiO2‐graphene dispersed sulfonated polyphenylenesulfide sulfone nanocomposites for medium temperature PEMFCs

Abstract Sulfonated polyphenylene sulphide sulfone (sPPSS) loaded with titania‐graphene (TiO 2 ‐GNS) was synthesized by the polycondensation method and studied their suitability towards proton exchange membrane fuel cell applications. The structural, morphological, and physic‐chemical properties of sPPSS nanocomposites containing varying amounts of (1%, 2%, 3%, and 5%) TiO 2 ‐GNS was investigated by Fourier transform infrared, H 1 ‐NMR, P‐XRD, FE‐SEM, HR‐TEM, Raman spectrum, swelling ratio (SR), water uptake, thermal analysis, oxidative stability (OS) and proton conductivity. Further, the obtained TiO 2 ‐GNS dispersed polymer membrane exhibits greatly reduced water absorption 4.44% and a less volume SR (15.6%). The 5 wt% TiO 2 ‐GNS dispersed sPPSS nanocomposites exhibited a PC value around 2.03 × 10 −2 S/cm at 110°C. The sPPSS nanocomposites membrane confirmed admirable OS with a maximum degradation of 39.15% during immersed in the Fenton reagent for 6 h at 80°C.