Synthesis of highly sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) random (statistical) copolymers via direct polymerization

Novel biphenol‐based wholly aromatic poly (arylene ether sulfones) containing pendant sulfonate groups were prepared by direct aromatic nucleophilic substitution polycondensation of disodium 3,3′‐disulfonate‐4,4′‐dichlorodiphenyl sulfone (SDCDPS), 4,4′‐dichlorodiphenylsulfone (DCDPS) and biphenol. Copolymerization proceeded quantitatively to high molecular weight in N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidinone at 190°C in the presence of anhydrous potassium carbonate. Tough membranes were successfully cast from the control and the copolymers, which had a SDCDPS/DCDPS mole ratio of either 40:60 or 60:40 using N,N‐dimethylactamide; the 100% SDCDPS homopolymer was water soluble. Short‐term aging (30 min) indicates that the desired acid form membranes are stable to 220°C in air and conductivity values at 25°C of 0.110 (40%) and 0.170 S/cm (60%) were measured, which are comparable to or higher than the state‐of‐the art fluorinated copolymer Nafion 1135 control. The new copolymers, which contain ion conductivity sites on deactivated rings, are candidates as new polymeric electrolyte materials for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells. Further research comparing their membrane behavior to post‐sulfonated systems is in progress.     

Morphological investigations of block sulfonated poly(arylene ether ketone) copolymers as potential proton exchange membranes

A series of block sulfonated poly(arylene ether ketone) (SPAEK) copolymers with different block lengths and ionic contents were synthesized by a two‐stage process. The morphology of these block SPAEK copolymers was investigated by various methods, such as differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), transmission electron microscope (TEM), and small angle X‐ray scattering (SAXS). Dark colored ionic domains of hundreds of nanometers spreading as a cloud‐like belt were observed in TEM images. The sizes of the ionic domains as a function of block copolymer composition were determined from SAXS curves. The results for the evolution of ionic domains revealed that the block copolymers exhibited more clearly phase‐separated microstructure with increasing ionic contents and hydrophobic sequence lengths. Proton conductivity is closely related to the microstructure, especially the presence of large interconnected ionic domains or ionic channels. Block SPAEK membranes have interconnected ionic clusters to provide continuous hydrophilic channels, resulting in higher proton conductivity. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Investigation of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone sulfone)/heteropolyacid composite membranes for high temperature fuel cell applications

The sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone sulfone) (SPEEKS)/heteropolyacid (HPA) composite membranes with different HPA content in SPEEKS copolymers matrix with different degree of sulfonation (DS) were investigated for high temperature proton exchange membrane fuel cells. Composite membranes were characterized by Fourier transfer infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). FTIR band shifts suggested that the sulfonic acid groups on the copolymer backbone strongly interact with HPA particles. SEM pictures showed that the HPA particles were uniformly distributed throughout the SPEEKS membranes matrix and particle sizes decreased with the increment of copolymers' DS. The holes were not found in SPEEKS‐4/HPA30 (consisting of 70% SPEEKS copolymers with DS = 0.8 and 30% HPA) composite membrane after composite membranes were treated with boiling water for 24 h. Thermal stabilities of the composite membranes were better than those of pure sulfonated copolymers membranes. Although the composite membranes possessed lower water uptake, it exhibited higher proton conductivity for SPEEKS‐4/HPA30 especially at high temperature (above 100 °C). Its proton conductivity linearly increased from 0.068 S/cm at 25 °C to 0.095 S/cm at 120 °C, which was higher than 0.06 S/cm of Nafion 117. In contrast, proton conductivity of pure SPEEKS‐4 membrane only increased from 0.062 S/cm at 25 °C to 0.078 S/cm at 80 °C. At 120 °C, proton conductivity decreased to poor 0.073 S/cm. The result indicated that composite membranes exhibited high proton conductivity at high temperature. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 1967–1978, 2006     

Ionic conducting membranes based on new sulfonated poly(arylene ether ketone)s for fuel cell applications

The synthesis and characterization of new di‐ and tetra‐sulfonated ether diketone monomers are described. From these monomers, a wide series of sulfonated poly(arylene ether ketone)s (SPAEK) are synthesized by varying the sulfonic acid repartition along the polymer backbones. Their chemical structures are thoroughly characterized by NMR. From these polymers tough membranes are obtained from solution casting method and their water uptake, ionic conductivity, and water/gas permeation properties are determined and compared with those of Nafion membrane. Preliminary fuel cell tests show that SPAEK membranes are promising candidates for fuel cell application. This work brings new insights concerning the beneficial effects of introducing densely sulfonated monomers in a polyarylether macromolecular structure along with fluorinated groups improving conductivity while reducing unwanted excessive swelling. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2017 , 55, 771–777     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(arylene ether sulfone) copolymers with sulfonimide side groups for a proton‐exchange membrane

A sulfonimide‐containing comonomer derived from 4,4′‐dichlorodiphenylsulfone was synthesized and copolymerized with 4,4′‐dichlorodiphenylsulfone and 4,4′‐biphenol to prepare sulfonimide‐containing poly(arylene ether sulfone) random copolymers (BPSIs). These copolymers showed slightly higher water uptake than disulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) copolymer (BPSH) controls, but their proton‐conductivity values were very comparable to those of the BPSH series with similar ion contents. The proton conductivity increased with the temperature for both systems. For samples with 30 mol % ionic groups, BPSI showed less temperature dependence in proton conductivity and slightly higher methanol permeability in comparison with BPSH. The thermal characterization of the sulfonimide copolymers showed that both the acid and salt forms were stable up to 250 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere. The results suggested that the presumed enhanced stability of the sulfonimide systems did not translate into higher protonic conductivity in liquid water. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 6007–6014, 2006     

Preliminary evaluation of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)/monoethanolamine/adipic acid composite membranes for direct methanol fuel cell applications

A series of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)/monoethanolamine/adipic acid (SPEEK/MEA/AA) composite membranes are prepared and investigated to assess their possibility as proton exchange membranes in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs). A preliminary evaluation shows that introducing MEA and AA into SPEEK matrix decreases the thermal stability of membrane. However, the degradation temperatures are still above 260 °C, satisfying the requirement for fuel cell operation. Compared with the pure SPEEK membrane, the composite membranes exhibit not only lower water uptake and swelling ratios but also better mechanical property and oxidative stability. Noticeably, the methanol diffusion coefficient of the composite membranes decrease significantly from 3.15 × 10^?6 to 0.76 × 10^?6 cm²/s with increasing MEA and AA content, accompanied by only a small sacrifice in proton conductivity. Although both the methanol diffusion coefficient and the proton conductivity of composite membranes are lower than those of pure SPEEK and Nafion® 117 membranes, their selectivity (conductivity/methanol diffusion coefficient) are higher. In addition, the composite membranes show excellent stability in aqueous methanol solution. The good thermal and chemical stability, low swelling ratio, excellent mechanical property, low methanol diffusion coefficient, and high selectivity make the use of these composite membranes in DMFCs quite attractive. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 45: 2871–2879, 2007     

Direct copolymerization of sulfonated poly(phthalazinone arylene ether)s for proton‐exchange‐membrane materials

Sulfonated poly(phthalazinone ether ketone) (SPPEK) copolymers and sulfonated poly(phthalazinone ether sulfone) (SPPES) copolymers containing pendant sodium sulfonate groups were prepared by direct copolymerization. The reaction of disodium 3,3′‐disulfonate‐4,4′‐difluorobenzophenone (SDFB‐Na), 4,4′‐difluorobenzophenone (DFB), and 4‐(4‐hydroxyphenyl)‐1(2H)‐phthalazinone (DHPZ) at 170 °C in N‐methyl‐2‐pyrrolidione containing anhydrous potassium carbonate gave SPPEKs. SPPESs were similarly obtained with 3,3′‐disulfonate‐4,4′‐difluorophenyl sulfone, 4‐fluorophenyl sulfone (DFS), and DHPZ as monomers. The sulfonic acid groups, being on deactivated positions of the polymer backbone, were expected to be hydrolytically more stable than postsulfonated polymers. Fourier transform infrared and ¹H NMR were used to characterize the structures and degrees of sulfonation of the sulfonated polymers. Membrane films of SPPEKs with SDFB‐Na/DFB molar feed ratios of up to 60/40 and SPPESs with sulfonated 4‐fluorophenyl sulfone/DFS molar feed ratios of up to 50/50 were cast from N,N‐dimethylacetamide polymer solutions. Membrane films in acid form were then obtained by the treatment of the sodium‐form membrane films in 2 N sulfuric acid at room temperature. An increase in the number of sulfonate groups in the copolymers resulted in an increased glass‐transition temperature and enhanced membrane hydrophilicity. The sodium‐form copolymers were thermally more stable than their acid forms. The proton conductivities of the acid‐form copolymers with sulfonated monomer/unsulfonated monomer molar feed ratios of 0.5 and 0.6 were higher than 10^?2 S/cm and increased with temperature; they were less temperature‐dependent than those of the postsulfonated products. SPPESH‐50 showed higher conductivity than the corresponding postsulfonated poly(phthalazinone ether sulfone). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2731–2742, 2003     

Novel sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone)/silica coated carbon nanotubes high‐performance composite membranes for direct methanol fuel cell

The major risk of using carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to modify proton exchange membranes (PEMs) in fuel cells is possible short‐circuiting due to the excellent electrical conductivity of CNTs. In this article, silica‐coated CNTs (SiO₂@CNTs) were successfully prepared by a simple sol–gel process and then used as a new additive in the preparation of sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone) (SPEEK)‐based composite membranes. The insulated and hydrophilic silica coated on the surface of CNTs not only eliminated the risk of short‐circuiting, but also enhanced the interfacial interaction between CNTs and SPEEK, and hence promoted the homogeneous dispersion of CNTs in the SPEEK matrix. Moreover, compared to the methanol permeability of the pure SPEEK membrane (3.42 × 10^?7 cm² s^?1), the SPEEK/SiO₂@CNT composite membrane with a SiO₂@CNT loading of 5 wt% exhibits almost one order of magnitude decrease of methanol crossover, while the proton conductivity still remained above 10^?2 S cm^?1 at room temperature. The obtained results expose the possibility of SPEEK/SiO₂@CNT membranes to be served as high‐performance PEMs in direct methanol fuel cells. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Mechanical and morphological studies of sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)s for potential application in fuel cell membrane

Two groups of synthesized sulfonated poly(ether sulfone)s with similar structures but different size of repeat units were selected. Investigation of the properties of these copolymers with different sulfonation contents for application as fuel cell membrane was the main aim of this study. These groups of copolymers showed different thermal behavior, mechanical properties, dimensional and oxidative stability, ion exchange capacity, water uptake, and proton conductivity. Structure–property relation was surveyed, and the copolymers showed acceptable results for use as fuel cell membrane. The swelling ratio of the copolymers was in the range of 3.3–6.6%, and the proton conductivity of them was about 0.020–0.077 S/cm at 25°C. These data were comparable with Nafion 115 with 8.15% of swelling ratio and 0.085 S/cm of proton conductivity. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis and sulfonation of poly(arylene ether)s containing tetraphenyl methane moieties

Novel poly(arylene ether)s with sulfonic acid containing pendent groups were successfully synthesized by the nucleophilic displacement of aromatic dihalides with bisphenols in an aprotic solvent in the presence of excess potassium carbonate followed by sulfonation with chlorosulfonic acid. The sulfonation took place only at the controlled positions on the phenyl rings due to the novel bisphenol structures designed. The sulfonic acid group containing polymers were very soluble in common organic solvents, such as dimethyl sulfoxide, N,N′‐dimethylacetamide, and dimethylformamide, but swelled only slightly in water. These sulfonic acid group containing polymers were readily cast into tough and smooth films from organic solvents. The synthesized polymers had high glass‐transition temperatures of 171.0–240.7 °C and high molecular weights of 15,600–33,000 Da. These films could potentially be used as proton‐exchange membranes for fuel cells. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 1779–1788, 2004     

Directly copolymerized poly(arylene sulfide sulfone) disulfonated copolymers for PEM‐based fuel cell systems. I. Synthesis and characterization

Direct aromatic nucleophilic substitution polycondensations of disodium 3,3′‐disulfonate‐4,4′‐difluorodiphenylsulfone (SDFDPS), 4,4′‐difluorodiphenylsulfone (DFDPS) (or their chlorinated analogs), and 4,4′‐thiobisbenzenethiol in the presence of potassium carbonate were investigated. Electrophilic aromatic substitution was employed to synthesize the SDFDPS comonomer in high yields and purity. High molecular weight disulfonated copolymers were easily obtained using the SDFDPS monomers, but in general, slower rates and a lower molecular weight copolymer were obtained using the analogous chlorinated monomers. Tough and ductile membranes were solution cast from N,N‐dimethylacetamide for both series of copolymers. The degrees of disulfonation (20–50%) were controlled by varying the ratio of disulfonated to unsulfonated comonomers. Precise control of the ionic concentration, well‐defined ionic locations, and enhanced stability due to the deactivated position of the –SO₃H group are some of the suggested advantages of direct copolymerization of sulfonated monomers. Further publications will discuss additional characteristics of these copolymers that have the same repeat unit, but different molecular weights, using methanol permeability, water uptake, protonic conductivity, and dynamic mechanical analysis. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 43: 2964‐2976, 2005     

Polyaniline decorated graphene oxide on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membrane for direct methanol fuel cells application

In direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC), methanol crossover is a major issue which has reduced the performance of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) for energy generation. In this study, graphene oxide (GO) and conductive polyaniline decorated GO (PANI-GO) were used as additives in fabrication of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) nanocomposite PEM membrane to reduce methanol crossover. PANI-GO was synthesized by in situ polymerization method and the formation of PANI coated GO nanostructures was confirmed by surface morphology and crystallinity analysis. The membrane morphology and topography analysis confirmed that GO and PANI-GO were well dispersed on the surface of SPEEK membrane. 0.1 wt% PANI-GO modified SPEEK nanocomposite membrane exhibited the highest water uptake and ion exchange capacity of 40% and 1.74 meq g^?1, respectively. The oxidative stability of the nanocomposite membranes also improved. Lower methanol permeability of 4.33 × 10^?7 cm^?2S^?1 was noticed for 0.1 wt% PANI-GO modified SPEEK membrane. PANI-GO modified SPEEK membrane enhanced the proton conductivity, which was due to the existence of acidic and hydrophilic group present in PANI and GO. PANI-GO modified SPEEK membrane held higher selectivity of 1.94 × 10⁴ S cm^?3 s^?1. Overall, these studies revealed that PANI-GO modified SPEEK membrane is a potential material for DMFC applications.     

Synthesis and proton conductivity of sulfonated,multi‐phenylated poly(arylene ether)s

A series of sterically‐encumbered, sulfonated, poly(arylene ether) copolymers were synthesized and their proton conductivity examined. The series was prepared by copolymerizing a novel monomer, 2″,3″,5″,6″‐tetraphenyl‐[1,1′:4',1″:4″,1″':4″',1″″‐quinquephenyl]‐4,4″″‐diol, with 4,4'‐difluorobenzophenone and bisphenol A. Subsequent sulfonation and solution casting provided membranes possessing ion exchange capacities of 1.9 to 2.7 mmol/g and excellent mechanical properties (Young's modulus, 0.2–1.2 GPa; tensile strength, 35–70 MPa; elongation at break, 62–231%). Water uptake ranged from 34 to 98 wt% at 80 °C/100% RH. Proton conductivities ranged between 0.24 to 16 mS/cm at 80 °C/60% RH, and 3 to 167 mS/cm at 80 °C/95% RH. TEM analysis of the polymers, in the dehydrated state, revealed isolated spherical aggregates of ions, which presumably coalesce when hydrated to provide highly conductive pathways. The strategy of using highly‐encumbered polymer frameworks for the design of mechanically‐robust and dimensionally‐stable proton conducting membranes is demonstrated. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2014 , 52, 2579‐2587     

Multiblock copolymers of poly(2,5‐benzophenone) and disulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) for proton‐exchange membranes. I. Synthesis and characterization

Nanophase‐separated, hydrophilic–hydrophobic multiblock copolymers are promising proton‐exchange‐membrane materials because of their ability to form various morphological structures that enhance transport. A series of poly(2,5‐benzophenone)‐activated, telechelic aryl fluoride oligomers with different block molecular weights were successfully synthesized by the Ni(0)‐catalyzed coupling of 2,5‐dichlorobenzophenone and the end‐capping agent 4‐chloro‐4′‐fluorobenzophenone. These telechelic oligomers (hydrophobic) were then copolymerized with phenoxide‐terminated, disulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone)s (hydrophilic) by nucleophilic, aromatic substitution to form hydrophilic–hydrophobic multiblock copolymers. High‐molecular‐weight multiblock copolymers with number‐average block lengths ranging from 3000 to 10,000 g/mol were successfully synthesized. Two separate glass‐transition temperatures were observed via differential scanning calorimetry in the transparent multiblock copolymer films when each block length was longer than 6000 g/mol. Tapping‐mode atomic force microscopy also showed clear nanophase separation between the hydrophilic and hydrophobic domains and the influence of the block length as it increased from 6000 to 10,000 g/mol. Transparent and creasable films were solvent‐cast and exhibited moderate proton conductivity and low water uptake. These copolymers are promising candidates for high‐temperature proton‐exchange membranes in fuel cells, which will be reported separately in part II of this series. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 284–294, 2007     

Sulphonated poly(ether ether ketone): synthesis and characterisation

The paper describes the sulphonation of commercially available poly(ether ether ketone) PEEK (GATONE^TM, Gharda Chemicals Limited, India and VICTREX^®, ICI Limited, UK) by using concentrated sulphuric acid. The concentration of GATONE in conc. H₂SO₄ was varied from 4-10% (w/v) whereas in VICTREX^® the concentration was 4% (w/v). The temperature was varied from 35-55°C and the duration of reaction was 3-7 h. Structural characterisation of sulphonated polymers was done by elemental analysis, FT-IR and ¹H-NMR spectroscopy. On the basis of elemental analysis, the extent of sulphonation of GATONE was found to be 57-75%. The extent of sulphonation as determined by ¹H-NMR in case of GATONE was in the range of 53-80% and for VICTREX 58-87%. Thermal analysis, proton conductivity and water uptake of these samples were also studied. Proton conductivity of the films was comparable to the perflourinated polymer (Nafion).     

多磺化侧链型聚芳醚的合成及性能

本文通过对聚合物的结构设计,采用亲和取代的途径制备了含有甲氧基侧链的聚芳醚聚合物,然后去醚化得到了侧链含有羟基的聚芳醚材料,最后通过接枝的方法将磺酸基团引入聚合物成功的制备出多磺化侧链型聚芳醚质子交换膜材料。此类材料表现出好的热化学稳定性, 80 oC时的质子传导率可达到0.192 S/cm,超过了Nafion 117 薄膜的传导率.同时此类材料表现出低的尺寸稳定性。因此此类材料很有希望在质子交换膜领域得到应用     

Locally sulfonated poly(ether sulfone)s with highly sulfonated units as proton exchange membrane

Novel locally sulfonated poly(ether sulfone)s with highly sulfonated units were successfully synthesized for fuel cell applications. Poly(ether sulfone)s were prepared by the nucleophilic substitution of bis(4‐fluorophenyl) sulfone with 1,2,4,5‐tetrakis([1,1′‐biphenyl]‐2‐oxy)‐3,6‐bis(4‐hydroxyphenoxy)benzene and bis(4‐hydroxyphenyl) sulfide, followed by oxidation using m‐chloroperoxybenzoic acid. The desired highly sulfonated units were easily introduced by postsulfonation and each one had ten sulfonic acid groups. The sulfonated polymers gave tough, flexible, and transparent membranes by solvent casting. The high contrast in polarity between highly sulfonated units and hydrophobic poly(ether sulfone) units enabled the formation of defined phase‐separated structures and well‐connected proton paths. The sulfonated polymers exhibited excellent proton conductivity over a wide range of relative humidities. The proton conductivity of the sulfonated polymer with an ion exchange capacity value of 2.38 mequiv/g was comparable to that of Nafion 117 even at 30% relative humidity. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 3444–3453, 2009     

Synthesis and characterization of poly(arylene ether sulfone)s with trans‐1,4‐cyclohexylene ring containing ester linkages

trans‐1,4‐Cyclohexylene ring containing acid chloride monomers were incorporated into poly(arylene ether sulfone) (PAES) backbones to study their effect on mechanical and thermal properties. The trans‐1,4‐cyclohexylene ring containing acid chloride monomers were synthesized and characterized by NMR and high‐resolution mass spectrum. trans‐1,4‐Cyclohexylene containing PAESs were synthesized from the acid chloride monomers and hydroxyl terminated polysulfone oligomers with a pseudo‐interfacial method and a solution method. These PAESs, with trans‐1,4‐cyclohexylene ring containing ester linkages, were fully characterized by NMR, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), size exclusion chromatography, and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The tensile properties were also evaluated. The polymers made with the pseudo‐interfacial method had relatively low molecular weights when compared to the solution method where much higher molecular weight polymers were obtained. Crystallinity was promoted in the low molecular weight biphenol‐based PAES samples with the pseudo‐interfacial method. The crystallinity was confirmed by both the DSC and the wide angle X‐ray diffraction results. The tensile test results of the high molecular weight polymers suggested that incorporation of the trans‐1,4‐cyclohexylene ring containing linkage slightly improved the ultimate elongations while maintaining the Young's moduli. The trans‐1,4‐cyclohexylene ring containing PAESs also showed higher sub‐T_g relaxations in DMA when compared with their terephthaloyl containing analog. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Structural and transport phenomena of urocanate-based proton carrier in sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membrane composite

Proton transport is one of crucial phenomena in electrolytic part highly considered to overcome a limit in fuel cell efficiency improvement. Proton conducting organic electrolyte was modeled and simulated at atomistic level of calculation by doping of butyl urocanate (C4U), a composite material with imidazole substructure, with sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) amorphous membrane at various working temperature. Molecular dynamics simulations were used to investigate structural and dynamics characteristic of C4U in the membrane comparing with the SPEEK-hydronium membrane model as a control. From simulations, thermal effect on water and proton carriers cluster surrounding the sulfonate groups was explored. At higher temperature, the more transport dynamics of C4U ions in SPEEK membranes were found than that of hydronium ions in the control system. Likewise, phase separation of hydrophobic and hydrophilic parts was taken into consideration here. A critical role of the enhancing proton conductivity by increasing the diffusion coefficient at temperature beyond C4U melting point in composite polymer membrane was emphasized. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2018 , 56, 1625–1635     

Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated poly(phthalazinone ether ketone) for proton exchange membrane materials

As a novel class of proton exchange membrane materials for use in fuel cells, sulfonated poly(phthalazinone ether ketone)s (SPPEKs) were prepared by the modification of poly(phthalazinone ether ketone). Sulfonation reactions were conducted at room temperature with mixtures of 95–98% concentrated sulfuric acid and 27–33% fuming sulfuric acid with different acid ratios, and SPPEK was obtained with a degree of sulfonation (DS) in the desired range of 0.6–1.2. The presence of sulfonic acid groups in SPPEK was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared analysis, and the DS and structures were characterized by NMR. The introduction of sulfonic groups into the polymer chains increased the glass‐transition temperature above the decomposition temperature and also led to an overall decrease in the decomposition temperature. Membrane films were cast from SPPEK solutions in N,N‐dimethylacetamide. Water uptakes and swelling ratios of SPPEK membrane films increased with DS, and SPPEKs with DS > 1.23 were water‐soluble at 80 °C. Proton conductivity increased with DS and temperature up to 95 °C, reaching 10^?2S/cm. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 497–507, 2003