Sulfonation of vulcanized ethylene–propylene–diene terpolymer membranes

In the present work, sulfonation of previously vulcanized ethylene propylene diene terpolymer (EPDM) membranes was developed in a swelling solvent with acetyl sulfate. This procedure avoids the need to pre-dissolve the raw polymer. The reaction conditions were optimized in terms of solvent type, reaction time, acetyl sulfate concentration and film thickness to obtain the maximum degree of sulfonation of the polymer. The sulfonation procedure presented in this study yields a degree of sulfonation comparable to the chlorosulfonic acid procedure. Sulfonic acid groups were detected by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and quantified by titrations. Proton conductivity and water uptake were measured by means of impedance spectroscopy and swelling measurements, respectively, and were correlated with the degree of sulfonation. Tensile strength and Young’s modulus of sulfonated EPDM increased with the degree of sulfonation, while elongation at break remained constant. Thermal stability of the sulfonated EPDM was studied by simultaneous thermogravimetry–mass spectroscopy.