The roles of solvent type and amount of residual solvent on determining the structure and performance of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) proton exchange membranes
SPEEK membranes with controlled amount of RS content cast by four types of solvents. The treatment with acid and DI water removes all RS in the treated membranes. The same DS and RS content correspond to the same membrane water uptake regardless of solvent type. Same proton conductivity for the membranes of high DS cast by different solvents with the same RS content. At low DS, the membrane cast by DMSO has highest proton conductivity and largest hydrophilic domains.