TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Compounds: The ionomer comprises a reaction product of monomer (A) with an ionomer-contributing monomer. It can be a sulfonated poly(phthalazinone ether ketone). It comprises repeating units of polymers of formulae (I) and (II). The polymeric support is expanded polytetrafluoroethylene.R1 and R2 = H, alkyl, aromatic;M = metallic base ion.Preferred Method: The reaction is carried out at 140-220 (preferably 150-220)degreesC for 1-36 (preferably 4-32) hours.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The monomer (A) comprises 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl) phthalazinone. The monomer (B) comprises disodium 3,3'-sulfonyl(4,4'-difluoro benzophenone) or disodium 3,3'-sulfonyl bis(4-fluorophenyl sulfone). The monomer (C) comprises 4,4'-difluoro benzophenone or bis(4-fluorophenyl) sulfone. The ionomer-contributing monomer comprises sulfonic acid or carboxylic acid. The polar solvents are dimethyl sulfoxide, tetramethylene sulfone, phenyl sulfone, 1-methyl-2-pyrrolidinone, or N,N-dimethylformamide. The azeotropic dehydration agents are toluene, xylene, or chloroform. The coagulation agents are water and methanol or ethanol. The monomer containing phthalazinone and phenol group has molecular structure of (III).R1-R2 = H, 1-4C alkyl or aromatic group.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ELECTRICAL POWER AND ENERGY - Preferred Components: The polymer electrolyte membrane comprises a polymeric support having interconnected passages and pathways that are occluded by the polymer. The fuel may be methanol or hydrogen.Preferred Parameters: The polymer electrolyte membrane has relative selectivity factor that is greater than 1, preferably 1.3. The fuel cell has open circuit potential of 0.704 V, and average methanol crossover measurement of 0.124. EXAMPLE - An ionomer solution of polymer was produced by dissolving a solid polymer electrolyte membrane in dimethyl sulfoxide. The ionomer membrane was first ion exchanged to the sodium form by neutralization with 0.5 N sodium hydroxide solution. The membrane was allowed to dry at room temperature for at least 4 hours. 8.9 g Methyl sulfoxide was poured into a flask. The solvent was agitated and the flask was kept under dry nitrogen. The resulting solution contained 3% solids. This solution was used to impregnate the gas diffusion electrodes to result in prototype anodes and cathodes. The impregnated electrodes were post-dried in vacuum oven overnight at 200degreesC to completely eliminate the residual solvent. After the drying step, all electrodes were soaked in 3N nitric acid to ion-exchange the polymer to the acid form. The electrode was rinsed in deionized water to remove any excess acid.