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The present invention relates to composite solid polymer electrolyte membranes (SPEMs) which include a porous polymer substrate interpenetrated with a water soluble ion-conducting material. SPEMs of the present invention are useful in electrochemical applications, including fuel cells and electrodia

The present invention relates to composite solid polymer electrolyte membranes (SPEMs) which include a porous polymer substrate interpenetrated with a water soluble ion-conducting material. SPEMs of the present invention are useful in electrochemical applications, including fuel cells and electrodialysis.

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What is claimed is: 1. A composite solid polymer electrolyte membrane (SPEM) comprising a porous polymer substrate interpenetrated with a water soluble ion-conducting material, wherein (i) the porous polymer substrate comprises a homopolymer or copolymer of a liquid crystalline polymer and (ii) the

What is claimed is: 1. A composite solid polymer electrolyte membrane (SPEM) comprising a porous polymer substrate interpenetrated with a water soluble ion-conducting material, wherein (i) the porous polymer substrate comprises a homopolymer or copolymer of a liquid crystalline polymer and (ii) the ion-conducting material comprises a water soluble homopolymer or water soluble copolymer of at least one of a sulfonated ion-conducting aromatic polymer. 2. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the ion-conducting aromatic polymer comprises a wholly aromatic ion-conducting polymer. 3. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the ion-conducting aromatic polymer comprises a sulfonated polyimide polymer. 4. The SPEM of claim 2, wherein the sulfonated wholly-aromatic ion-conducting polymer comprises a sulfonated derivative of a polysulfone (PSU) polymer. 5. The SPEM of claim 4, wherein the polysulfone polymer comprises a polyethersulfone (PES) polymer. 6. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the ion-conducting material comprises at least one of a polystyrene sulfonic acid (PSSA), poly(trifluorostyrene) sulfonic acid, and polyvinyl sulfonic acid (PVSA) polymer. 7. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the porous polymer substrate comprises a homopolymer or copolymer of at least one of a substituted or unsubstituted polybenzazole polymer, and wherein the ion-conducting material comprises a sulfonated derivative of a homopolymer or copolymer of a polysulfone (PSU) polymer. 8. The SPEM of claim 7, wherein the polysulfone polymer comprises a polyethersulfone (PES) polymer. 9. The SPEM of claim 8, wherein the polysulfone polymer is produced by condensation of (4,4'-dihalophenyl)sulfone, sulfonated (4,4'-dihalophenyl)sulfone or a mixture thereof with 4,4'-bisphenolbiphenol, or 4,4'-biphenylbiphenyl-dithiol, 1,4-hydroquinone, 1,4-benzene dithiol, and mixtures thereof, each of which may be optionally sulfonated. 10. The SPEM of claim 9, wherein at least 75% of the (4,4'-dihalophenyl)sulfone monomer is sulfonated at the 3 and 3' position. 11. The SPEM of claim 9, wherein at least 90% of the (4,4'-dihalophenyl)sulfone monomer is sulfonated at the 3 and 3' position. 12. The SPEM of claim 9, wherein substantially all of the (4,4'-dihalophenyl)sulfone monomer is sulfonated at the 3 and 3' position. 13. The SPEM of claim 9, wherein the polysulfone polymer is a compound of the formula: wherein Ar1, Ar2, and Ar3 are independently selected at each occurrence from carbocyclic aromatic groups having between 6 and 18 carbon ring atoms and between 1 and 3 rings; and at least a portion of the Ar1, Ar2, and Ar3 groups are substituted with sulfonic acid residues; each occurrence of E1 and E2 is independently selected from the group consisting of O, S, and SO2; m≧1; n is an integer of between 0 and about 10; and p is an integer of between 2 and about 10,000. 14. The SPEM of claim 13, wherein the polysulfone polymer is a compound of the formula: wherein x, y, and z are integers of between 0 and 4, which are independently selected at each occurrence of x, y or z in the formula, wherein at least a portion of the occurrences of x, y and z is not zero; each occurrence of E1 and E2 is independently selected from the group consisting of O, S, and SO2; m≧1; n is an integer of between 0 and about 10; p is an integer of between 2 and about 1,000; and q is 1, 2, or 3. 15. The SPEM of claim 14, wherein p is an integer of between about 5 and about 500. 16. The SPEM of claim 14, wherein z is zero; and at least about 80% of the occurrences of x and y are not zero. 17. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the SPEM is substantially thermally stable to temperatures of at least about 100° C. 18. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the SPEM is substantially thermally stable to temperatures of at least about 100° C. to at least about 175° C. 19. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the SPEM is stable from at least about 100° C. to at least about 150° C. 20. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the SPEM is stable from at least about 120° C. to at least about 175° C. 21. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the SPEM is substantially stable to temperatures of at least about 120° C. 22. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the porous polymer substrate comprises a microinfrastructure substantially interpenetrated with the ion-conducting material. 23. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the porous polymer substrate comprises an extruded or cast film. 24. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the liquid crystalline polymer substrate comprises a lyotropic liquid crystalline polymer. 25. The SPEM of claim 24, wherein the lyotropic liquid crystalline polymer substrate comprises a polybenzazole (PBZ) polymer. 26. The SPEM of claim 25, wherein the polybenzazole polymer substrate comprises a homopolymer or copolymer of a polybenzoxazole (PBO) polymer. 27. The SPEM of claim 26, wherein the polybenzazole polymer substrate comprises a an alternating structure comprising an optionally substituted phenyl or naphthyl group and a repeat unit selected from benzoxazole, benzothiazole, diimidazo-pyridine, and benzimidazole. 28. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the pore size of the porous polymer substrate is from about 10 Å to about 20,000 Å. 29. The SPEM of claim 28, wherein the pore size is from about 10 Å to about 2,000 Å. 30. The SPEM of claim 28, wherein the pore size is from about 500 Å to about 10,000 Å. 31. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the ion-conducting material has an ion-conductivity from about 0.01 S/cm to about 1.0 S/cm. 32. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the ion-conducting material has an ion-conductivity greater than about 0.1 S/cm. 33. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the ion-conducting material has an ion-exchange capacity greater than about 2.5 milliequivalents per gram. 34. The SPEM of claim 33, wherein the ion-conducting material has an ion-exchange capacity of between about 2.5 and about 5.0 milliequivalents per gram. 35. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the SPEM has an area specific resistance from about 0.02 to about 20 Ω·cm2. 36. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the SPEM has an area specific resistance of less than about 0.2 Ω·cm2. 37. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the SPEM has a thickness from about 0.1 mil. to about 5.0 mil. 38. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the thickness is about 1 mil. 39. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the ion-conducting material further comprises one or more antioxidants. 40. The SPEM of claim 1, wherein the ion-conducting material further comprises sulfone crosslinkages.