Synthesis of fluoro-containing sulfonated poly(phthalazinone ether ketone ketone)s and their properties as PEM in PEMFC and DMFC

A series of sulfonated poly(ether ketone ketone)s (SPPFEKKs) containing both of phthalazinone and hexafluoroisopropylidene moieties were synthesized by direct nucleophilic polycondensation reaction from 4-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-1(2H)-phthalazinone (DHPZ), 4,4-hexafluoroisopropylidene-diphenol (BPAF), 1,4-bi(4-fluorobenzoyl) benzene (DFKK) and 1,4-bi(3-sodium sulfonate-4-fluorobenzoyl) benzene (SDFKK). The obtained SPPFEKKs had high molecular weight with inherent viscosity ranged from 1.29 to 1.53 dL/g and their chemical structure was characterized by FT-IR and 1H NMR. The ionic membranes of SPPFEKKs showed high proton conductivity, for instance, SPPFEKK-120 (DS = 1.20) demonstrated 1.0 × 10−1 S/cm proton conductivity at 95 °C, which was very close to that of Nafion®117. All the SPPFEKK membranes exhibited methanol permeability lower than 2.76 × 10−7 cm2/s, which was much lower than that of Nafion®117 (2.38 × 10−6 cm2/s). These copolymers also showed excellent thermal stability and good solubility in aprotic polar organic solvents. The ionic membranes of SPPFEKK demonstrated tensile strength varied from 57 to 69 MPa depending on their DS.