ABSTRACT The performance of polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) depends on proton exchange membranes (PEMs). In harsh conditions, the electrolyte experiences chemical and thermal property losses that cause irreversible degradation, ultimately resulting in fuel cell shutdown. The goal of this work is to produce a new melamine‐based covalent organic framework (MIP‐COF) embedded sulfonated polybenzimidazole (SPBI) polymer nanocomposite membrane alternative to Nafion. Various characterizations are conducted to assess the structure, morphology, ionic transport, thermal and chemical stability, as well as the fuel cell efficiency of the membrane. The hydrogen bonding interaction at the MIP‐COF/SPBI interface leads to better ion transport, which improves the performance of the unit cell. Furthermore, the membrane's swelling and water sorption properties remain satisfactory. The 15% MIP‐COF loaded SPBI membrane exhibits the highest proton conductivity of 0.108 S/cm at 80°C. The results highlight that incorporating MIP‐COFs into SPBI is a successful approach for producing high‐performance PEMs for fuel cell applications.
Moorthy et al. (Wed,) studied this question.