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Preparation and properties of crosslinked multiblock sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) membranes for fuel cell applications
Author(s) -
Zhang Xuan,
Hu Zhaoxia,
Zhang Sha,
Chen Shouwen,
Chen Shanshan,
Liu Jianmei,
Wang Lianjun
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.33760
Subject(s) - arylene , ether , polymer chemistry , sulfone , membrane , materials science , oligomer , chemistry , alkyl , organic chemistry , aryl , biochemistry
Novel multiblock poly(arylene ether sulfone)s were prepared by a two‐pot method from a phenoxide‐end‐capped fully disulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) oligomer and a fluoride‐end‐capped nonsulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) oligomer with block length of 10 as the hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties, respectively, and were subsequently used as starting materials to be treated with phosphorous pentoxide (P 2 O 5 ) to get crosslinked membranes. The crosslinking reaction occurred between the sulfonic acid groups and activated ortho ‐hydrogen atoms to the ether linkage of the hydrophobic units in the presence of P 2 O 5 during solution casting. The crosslinking ratio was simply controlled by the amount of P 2 O 5 , and the fundamental properties of the resulting crosslinked multiblock membranes were investigated in detail. The water uptake and solution uptake in methanol solutions decreased with increasing crosslinking ratio, but a comparable high proton conductivity was maintained in the uncrosslinked membranes. They exhibited isotropic swelling behavior and largely enhanced dimensional stability in water and methanol solutions, whereas the uncrosslinked one showed anisotropic swelling behavior. The oxidative stability of the crosslinked membranes was significantly enhanced by the formation of sulfonyl linkages. The high proton conductivities at 120°C and 50% relative humidity suggested promising applications in elevated temperatures. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011