Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
633380 | Journal of Membrane Science | 2015 | 11 Pages |
Abstract
Star-shaped sulfonated block copoly(ether ketone)s exhibit excellent properties for use as proton exchange membranes (PEMs). However, very few investigations of the use of highly branched star-shaped sulfonated block polymers as PEMs have been reported. In this work, two types of highly branched star-shaped sulfonated block poly(arylene ether)s with 6% branching agent were synthesized via direct polycondensation reactions of a trifunctional core (branching agent) with sulfonated 4,4â²-difluorobenzophenone, bisphenol fluorene, and 4,4â²-difluorodiphenyl sulfone. The properties of a polymer with hydrophilic segments surrounded by hydrophobic segments (P1) and a polymer with hydrophobic segments surrounded by hydrophilic segments (P2) were investigated. The block polymer P1 exhibited better oxidative stability (332 min) and dimensional stability (<12%) than the highly branched sulfonated random polymer (P3), whereas P2 exhibited higher proton conductivity (0.40 S cmâ1 at 80 °C) and water uptake (59.1% at 80 °C) than P3. The highly branched star-shaped sulfonated block poly(arylene ether)s exhibit greater potential than P3 for use as PEMs.
Related Topics
Physical Sciences and Engineering
Chemical Engineering
Filtration and Separation
Authors
Huixiong Xie, Dan Tao, Xiongzhi Xiang, Yangxing Ou, Xiaojun Bai, Lei Wang,