The effect of crosslinked networks with poly(ethylene glycol) on sulfonated polyimide for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell

To investigate the effect of crosslinking by a hydrophilic group on a sulfonated polyimide electrolyte membrane, sulfonated polyimide end‐capped with maleic anhydride was synthesized using 1,4,5,8‐naphthalenetetracarboxylic dianhydride, 4,4′‐diaminobiphenyl, 2,2′‐disulfonic acid, 2‐bis [4‐(4‐aminophenoxy)phenyl] hexafluropropane and maleic anhydride. The sulfonated polyimides end‐capped with maleic anhydride were self‐crosslinked or crosslinked with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate. A series of the crosslinked sulfonated polyimides having various ratios of sulfonated polyimide and poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate were prepared and compared with uncrosslinked and self‐crosslinked sulfonated polyimides. The synthesized sulfonated polyimide films were characterized for FTIR spectrum, thermal stability, ion exchange capacity, water uptake, hydrolytic stability, morphological structure, and proton conductivity. The formation of sulfonated polyimide was confirmed in FTIR spectrum. Thermal stability was good for all the sulfonated polyimides that exhibited a three‐step degradation pattern. Ion exchange capacity was the same for both the uncrosslinked and the self‐crosslinked sulfonated polyimides (1.30 mEq/g). When the crosslinked sulfonated polyimides with poly(ethylene glycol) were compared, the ion exchange capacity was decreased as 1.27 > 1.25 > 1.23 mEq/g and water uptake was increased as 23.8 < 24.0 < 24.3% with the increase in poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate content. All the crosslinked sulfonated polyimides with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate were stable for over 200 h at 80 °C in deionized water. Morphological structure and mean intermolecular distance were obtained by WAXD. Proton conductivities were measured at 30, 50, 70, and 90 °C. The proton conductivity of the crosslinked sulfonated polyimides with poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate increased with the increase in poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate content despite the fact that the ion exchange capacity was decreased. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 43: 1455–1464, 2005     

Grafting of wheat straw fibers with poly (ε‐caprolactone) via ring‐opening polymerization for poly(lactic acid) reinforcement

The use of natural materials has grown in the last years in the plastics industry. Natural lignocellulose fibers derived from agricultural waste present potential to be used as a replacement for glass fibers for polymer reinforcement, leading to lower CO₂ footprint products. This work focuses on the modification of the cellulose fibers in order to improve the compatibility with poly(lactic acid) (PLA). The scoured wheat straw fibers were grafted with polycaprolactone (PCL) through ring opening polymerization. Thermal stability of the wheat straw fibers improved after chemical modifications enabling higher processing temperatures. Flexural and tensile moduli were improved by 23% and 15%, respectively, compared with neat PLA, using 20 wt% modified fibers. An improvement of 20% in the impact strength was obtained using PCL grafted fibers because of entanglements and molecular interactions between PCL grafted on the wheat straw fibers and PLA molecules. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.