High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! A proton exchange membrane or polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) is a semipermeable membrane generally made from ionomers and designed to conduct protons while being impermeable to gases such as oxygen or hydrogen. This is their essential function when incorporated into a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of a proton exchange membrane fuel cell or of a proton exchange membrane electrolyser : separation of reactants and transport of protons. PEMs can be made from either pure polymer membranes or from composite membranes where other materials are embedded in a polymer matrix. One of the most common and commercially available PEM materials is Nafion, a DuPont product. While Nafion is an ionomer with a perfluorinated backbone like Teflon,