Synthesis and properties of sulfonated and unsulfonated poly(arylene ether triazine)s with pendant diphenylamine groups for fuel cell applications

▶ Synthesized a series of soluble, fully aromatic, poly(arylene ether triazine) homopolymers that contain pendant diphenylamine groups. ▶ Unsulfonated polymers that contain phosphine oxide groups, or blends with PBI, have an H3PO4 uptake as high as 830%. ▶ The sulfonated polymer with the highest proton conductivity has the lowest ion exchange capacity, water uptake, and swelling. ▶ This study shows that the polymer architecture can manipulated to partially remove separation between hydrophilic and hydrophobic phases in proton exchange membranes.