Secure and highly selective proton exchange membranes based on a novel three-dimensional porous polyphenylene sulfide substrate

This article uses melt-blown non-woven fabric prepared from polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) resin and benzophenone as the support layer. MIL-101-NH 2 has been incorporated through functional modification to enable the in-situ growth on PPS non-woven fabric's continuous and dense fiber network. The pores of the matrix are filled with Nafion solution and hot pressed to form an extremely dense and hydrophilic reinforced composite proton exchange membrane (PEM). This strategy effectively leverages the acid-base pairs of MIL-101-NH 2 and sulfonic acid groups, thereby constructing and shortening the proton transport pathway. Molecular dynamics simulations show that proton transfer is mainly through the Grotthuss mechanism, while the mass transfer across the membrane is characterized by uniformity and continuity. The methanol permeability is significantly reduced compared to commercial Nafion 117. Based on PPS non-woven fabric, hybrid membranes have excellent oxidation resistance and remarkable heat resistance. They also rely on the dense network structure of PPS non-woven fabric and electrostatic solid interactions between acid and alkali, resulting in excellent mechanical properties and swelling rate. In single-cell performance testing, the peak power density reached 78.77 mA/cm 2 , exploring the application and research of PPS melt-blown fabric and providing new insights for the development preparation of low-cost and high-performance PEMs.