| Abstract: | Poly(ether sulfone)s containing pendant sodium sulfonate groups were prepared by the aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction of 4,4′-dichlorodiphenylsulfone ( 1 ) and sodium 5,5′-sulfonylbis (2-chlorobenzenesulfonate) ( 2 ) with bisphenols ( 3 ) in the presence of potassium carbonate in N,N-dimethylacetamide. A new monomer 2 containing the sodium sulfonate groups was synthesized by the sulfonation of 1 with fuming sulfuric acid. The polycondensation proceeded smoothly at 170°C and produced the desired poly(ether sulfone)s containing the sodium sulfonate with inherent viscosities up to 1.2 dL/g. The polymers were quite soluble in strong acid, dipolar aprotic solvents, m-cresol, and dichloromethane. The thermogravimetry of the polymers showed excellent thermal stability, indicating that 10% weight losses of the polymers were observed in the range above 460°C in nitrogen atmosphere. Both the glass transition temperatures and hydrophilicity of the polymers increased with increasing their concentrations of sodium sulfonate groups. © 1993 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. |
