Synthesis and characterization of poly(ether sulfone) grafted poly(styrene sulfonic acid) for proton conducting membranes

Abstract

Two-step synthesis of proton-conducting poly(ether sulfone) (PES) graft copolymer electrolyte membrane is proposed. Fridel Craft alkylation reaction was used to introduce chloromethyl pendant group onto the PES polymer backbone. Later on, atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) was applied to synthesize a series of poly(ether sulfone) grafted poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PES-g-PSSA). Successful chloromethyl substitution and grafting of the pendant group was characterized by the 1 H-NMR and elemental analysis. Electrochemical properties such as ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake and proton conductivity increased with increasing PSSA contents. Thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) showed the thermal stability of membranes up to 270 o C. Proton conductivity for maximum amount of grafting was 0.00297 S/cm.

Recent advances in the preparation of functionalized polysulfones

“…Moreover, the halomethylated polysulfones used as macroinitiators in ATRP can be easily prepared by a Friedel−Craft alkylation reaction. Various types of polymers including polyacrylamide, poly( N ‐isopropylacrylamide), polystyrene, poly(sodium 4‐styrene sulfonate), poly(2‐gluconamidoethyl methacrylate), poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate), poly(glycidyl methacrylate) and poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate were successfully attached on the polysulfone backbone via a grafting‐from ATRP approach. The hydrophilic/hydrophobic balance in the graft copolymers can be adjusted by tailoring the chain lengths of side chains, which can be controlled by the reaction time in the ATRP.…”

Microfiltration membranes functionalized with multiple styrenic homopolymer and block copolymer grafts

“…Integration of the peaks yields a relative ratio of 1 : 2 which further confirms assignments of peaks to methine and methylene. The characteristic signal for the chloromethyl group can be seen at 4.5 ppm . The integral value of peaks for chloromethyl group of CMS and PCMS is the same, indicating that the chloromethyl moiety is stable and has not undergone any side reactions.…”

A Review on Sulfonated Polymer Composite/Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Membranes to Address Methanol Barrier Issue for Methanol Fuel Cells

“…Some common used s-Polys are sulfonated poly (benzimidazole), sulfonated polyimidies, sulfonated poly (phenylene ether ether sulfone), sulfonated polystyrene, sulfonated poly (ether ether ketone), and sulfonated poly (arylene ether sulfone) etc. [48,49,50,51,52,53]. Furthermore, the addition of excess amounts of sulfonic acid moiety inside the backbone of the polymer membrane leads to reduced mechanical, swelling properties and higher water uptake, and low dimensional stability under wet/dry conditions, respectively [54].…”