TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Process: In the preparation of (I), a sample of the completed solution has a molar composition of about 1.00 Al2O3: 4-5 SiO2: 2-3 (TMA)2O (2OH-): 0-3 (TMA)2O(2Br-): 0.044-0.055 Na2O: 200-300 H2O 1.00 A12O3: 4-5 SiO2: 2-3 (TMA)2O (2OH-): 0-3 (TMA)2O(2Br-): 0.044-0.055 Na2O: 200-300 H2O (preferably 1.00 Al2O3- 4.35 SiO2-2.40 (TMA)2O (2OH-)-1.2 (TMA)2O(2Br-)-0.048 Na2O-249.00H2O, with a weight composition of 76.5 g DDI H2O, 52.3 g TMAOH, 11.3 g TMABr, 12.5 g aluminum isopropoxide and 26.2 g of silica); the nanocrystal size is controllable in the range of 30-45 nm by manipulating the tetramethylammonium and anion concentrations; and (II) is a colloidal suspension. In the preparation of (II), a sample of the completed solution has a molar composition of about 1.00 Al2O3: 3-5 SiO2(HS-30): 0.12-1.45 SiO2 (phenethyltrimethoxysilane (PETMS)): 2-3 (TMA)2O(2OH-): 0-3 (TMA)2O(2Br-): 0.044-0.055 Na2O: 200-300 H2O (preferably 1.00 Al2O3-4.35 SiO2: 0.12 SiO2 (PETMS)-2.40 (TMA)2O(2OH-)-1.2 (TMA)2O(2Br-)-0.048 Na2O-249.00H2O with a weight composition of 76.5 g DDI H2O, 52.3 g TMAOH, 11.3 g TMABr, 12.5 g aluminum isopropoxide, 26.2 g Ludox HS-30, and 0.84 g PETMS); the aging is performed for about three days at room temperature; and the heating is performed in an oil bath held at about 100degreesC. The preparation of (II), further comprises forming sulfonic acid functionalized zeolite FAU(Y) nanocrystals using the phenethyl functionalized zeolite FAU(Y) nanocrystals, by removing the tetramethylammonium organic template of the nanocrystals by an ion exchange process to form ion exchanged nanocrystals; and adding sulfonic acid groups to the ion exchanged nanocrystals by an acidification technique to form the sulfonic acid functionalized zeolite FAU(Y) nanocrystals, where: the ion exchange is process is performed by combining the phenethyl functionalized zeolite FAU(Y) nanocrystals with one of a 1M sodium nitrate or ammonium nitrate; the combining comprises stirring while maintaining a temperature of about 90degreesC; and the acidification comprises dealumination to increase the acid stability of the zeolite FAU(Y) nanocrystals by exchanging framework aluminum with silicon using an ammonium hexafluorosilicate (AHFS) treatment in a ammonium acetate buffered suspension, performed by dispersing the dealuminated, functionalized zeolite in a chlorinated solvent such as methylene chloride in an anhydrous atmosphere, followed by sulfonation of (II) by combining them with trimethyl silyl chlorosulfonate ((CH3)3SiSO3Cl) in the chlorinated solvent suspension, followed by treating the nanocrystals with sodium methoxide to obtain their sodium form, which is then dispersed in dimethyl formamide and converted to acid form by addition of hydrochloric acid. The sulfonic acid functionalized zeolite FAU(Y) or BEA nanocrystals: have a mass mean diameter of about 10-500 nm; are hydrophilic, acidic and porous; are proton conductors. In the preparation of (III), a sample of the completed solution has a molar composition of about 1.00 A12O3: 50-200asterisk(1-x) SiO2(HS-30): 50-200asterisk(x) SiO2(PETMS): 18 (TEA)2O (2OH-): 0.55-2.22 Na2O: 1000-1500 H2O (where x is 0.01-0.25, and x represents the atomic percentage of total Si in the completed solution) (preferably 1.00 A12O3: 100asterisk(1-x) SiO2(HS-30): 100asterisk(x) SiO2(PETMS): 18 (TEA)2O (2OH-): 1.11 Na2O: 1330 H2O (where x equals 0.005, with the weight composition of: (for x is 0.005) 76.46 g TEAOH, 12.5 g aluminum isopropoxide, 100.5 g Ludox HS-30, and 0.58 g PETMS; and x represents the atomic percentage of total Si in the completed solution)); the aging is performed for about two hours at room temperature; and the heating is performed in an oil bath held at about 100degreesC for 2-7 days. In the preparation of (III), a sample of the combined solution has a molar composition of about 1.00 Al2O3: (vasterisk(1-w)) SiO2 (vasteriskw) SiO2(PETMS): (0.26asteriskv+1) (TEA)2O(2OH-): (15asteriskv) H2O, where the total SiO2/Al2O3 ratio is represented by the symbol v, and the percentage of total Si in the synthesis mixture provided by PETMS is represented by w; v is 12.5-400 and w is 0.01-0.20; a sample of the combined solution has a weight composition of about (for v is 25, w is 2.8%), 20.15 g TEAOH, 0.1646 g aluminum powder, 4.96 g fumed SiO2, and 0.54 g PETMS, where the total SiO2/Al2O3 ratio is represented by the symbol v, and the percentage of total Si in the synthesis mixture provided by PETMS is represented by w; the mixing is performed for about one hour at room temperature; the reacting is performed by spinning the sealed combined solution within an environment held at about 140degreesC; the reacting is performed for a period between 2 hours and fourteen days; the aluminum precursor solution comprises of aluminum powder and about one half of the tetraethylammonium hydroxide solution used in the combined solution; and the silica precursor solution comprises of about one half of the tetraethylammonium hydroxide solution used in the combined solution, fumed silica and an appropriate amount of phenethyl trimethoxysilane. The preparation of (III) further comprises forming sulfonic acid functionalized zeolite BEA nanocrystals using the phenethyl functionalized zeolite BEA nanocrystals, by acid treating the phenethyl functionalized zeolite BEA nanocrystals in a concentrated sulfuric acid environment, thus both removing the tetramethylammonium organic template of the nanocrystals, and adding sulfonic acid groups to the nanocrystals to form the sulfonic acid functionalized zeolite BEA nanocrystals. In the method of forming a polymer/zeolite nanocomposite membrane, the size of the zeolite nanocrystal particles are comparable with domain size of the host polymer; the polymer is a film forming fluorinated sulfonic acid containing copolymer, where the polymer is a teflon type polymer, perfluorinated polymer or perfluorinated polymer with sulfonic groups; the weight ratio of the zeolite nanocrystals to that of the polymer in the polymer/zeolite nanocomposite membrane is a weight ratio of 98.75 wt.% polymer and 1.25 wt.% zeolite nanocrystal to 60 wt.% polymer and 40 wt.% zeolite nanocrystal, where the formed polymer/zeolite nanocomposite membrane is a proton conductor; the membrane has a proton conductivity of 2-7xl0-2 S/cm; has methanol permeability of less than 0.8-5.7x10-6 cm2/s; and has a proton conductivity to permeability ratio of more than 0.8-5.8x104 S sec/cm3; the forming zeolite nanocrystal suspension comprises adding the zeolite nanocrystals to a substance (ethanol, methanol, isopropanol, N,N dimethylformamide or water); the polymer source solution solvent mixture consists of methanol, ethanol, isopropanol, N,N dimethylformamide and/or water; and the forming comprises forming (II) or (III), (which is prepared by the above method); the heating comprises heating the poured solution in the casting vessel on level surface at 80degreesC for one hour to 5 days to form a gel, and the heating further comprises heating the poured solution in the casting vessel at 100degreesC for one hour to 5 days so as to boil off the high boiling point solvent; and the heat treating comprises heating the poured solution in the casting vessel at 140degreesC for one hour to 5 days. In the fuel cell, the polymer membrane has a proton conductivity of 2-7xl0-2 S/cm; has methanol permeability of less than 0.8-5.7x10-6 cm2/s; and has a proton conductivity to permeability ratio of more than 0.8-5.8x104 S sec/cm3; the cell functions in the absence of an external reformer to convert fuels to hydrogen; the membrane is formed by a process comprising forming a zeolite nanocrystal suspension; forming a polymer source suspension; combining the zeolite nanocrystal suspension with the polymer source suspension; ultrasonicating the resulting solution; pouring the resulting solution into a casting vessel; heating the poured solution in the casting vessel until the solution is dry; heat treating the dried solution; cooling the casting vessel; and removing the formed polymer/zeolite nanocomposite membrane; the size of the zeolite nanocrystal particles are comparable with domain size of the host polymer; the polymer is a film forming fluorinated sulfonic acid containing copolymer, where the polymer is a teflon type polymer, perfluorinated polymer or perfluorinated polymer with sulfonic groups; and the weight ratio of the zeolite nanocrystals to that of the polymer in the polymer/ zeolite nanocomposite membrane is a weight ratio of 98.75 wt.% polymer and 1.25 wt.% zeolite nanocrystal to 80 wt.% polymer and 20 wt.% zeolite nanocrystal. EXAMPLE - A 250 ml polypropylene bottle containing a magnetic stir bar was washed with double deionized water (DDI H20) using ultrasonication. Then appropriate amounts of DDI H2O, 25 wt.% aqueous tetramethylammonium hydroxide solution (TMAOH), and aluminum isopropoxide (97 wt.%) were added, in that order, and stirred vigorously until the solution became clear. Tetramethylammonium bromide (TMABr, 98 wt.%) was then added to the clear solution and stirred until completely dissolved. Aqueous 30 wt.% colloidal silica was then added to complete the solution, and the bottle was sealed tightly. After each batch was sealed, it was aged for 3 days at room temperature with vigorous stirring, and was then heated with stirring in a 100degreesC oil bath. The reaction mixture was worked up to give zeolite nanocrystals. The zeolite nanocrystals in ethanol suspension were added to the nafion suspension and the solvent composition of the mixture was augmented to achieve ideal membrane casting conditions. Plain zeolite Y nanocrystals were first ion exchanged using a 12 hour aqueous 1M sodium nitrate treatment at 80degreesC with stirring in order to remove the template TMA+ from the supercages in micropore structure of the zeolite nanocrystals. After ion exchange, the zeolite Y nanocrystals were centrifuged 3 times with relative centrifugal force of 48500 g for 2 hours. After the first two centrifugations, the zeolite Y nanocrystals were redispersed in DDI H2O. After the third centrifugation, the zeolite Y nanocrystals were dispersed in ethanol (200 proof). Centrifugations were performed in a Beckman J2-HS centrifuge at 20500 rpm using a JA-21 rotor. The resulting zeolite Y suspension contained 1.15 wt % zeolite Y nanocrystals in ethanol. The original nafion solution obtained from Du Pont was composed of 5 wt.% nafion polymer (1100 equivalent weight), less than 5% methanol, 30-60% water, 15-30% 1-propanol, and 15-30% 2-propanol. The raw nafion solution was in its acid counterbalanced H+ form. The raw nafion solvent composition led to poor membrane casting, so a nafion/ethanol suspension was generated by first drying raw nafion solution.