Poly(ether ether ketone) (PEEK) was sulfonated at various degrees with sulfuric acid and dissolved in N,Ndimethylacetamide (DMAc). Montmorillonite (MMT) clay was mixed with this solution and solvent-casted on a glass plate. A Fourier transfer infrared (FTIR) experiment of sulfonated samples showed O-H vibration at 3490 cm -1 and SdO peaks at 1085 and 1100-1300 cm -1 . Thermogravimetry analyzer (TGA) experiments revealed thermal degradation above 240 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirmed almost zero crystallinity for sulfonated PEEK/MMT. When the degree of sulfonation was increased to 80%, ion-exchange capacity, water uptake, and proton conductivity were increased to almost 2.4 meq/g, 75%, and 0.06 S/cm, respectively. Methanol permeability was decreased to 5 × 10 -8 cm 2 /s by the addition of 10 wt % MMT. A sulfonated PEEK/MMT membrane with 62% of sulfonation and 1.0 wt % MMT loading showed membrane selectivity of approximately 8500 compare to 4500 of Nafion 117.
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