Poly (arylene ether sulfones) (PAESs) derived from 4,4′-dichlorodiphenyl sulfone (DCDPS) are engineering thermoplastic widely used in industries due to its high glass transition temperature, high thermal stability, good mechanical properties and excellent resistance to hydrolysis and oxidation. In fuel cell, sulfonation of PAES using disulfonated DCDPS (SDCDPS) give membranes with good proton conductivity and mechanical stability at sulfonation levels &lt;50%. Higher degree of sulfonations, disulfonated PAES become mechanically unstable and lose membrane integrity. The goal of this research is to prepare sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone 2-chloro-4, 6- diamino-1,3,5-triazine) (PAES-CDT) hybrid copolymers membranes for proton exchange membrane fuel cells. The driving force behind the proposed research is to enhance the fuel cell properties of PAES membranes using a pendant sulfonic acid group. The synthesis of sulfonated PAES-CDT copolymers will be accomplished by adhering either aniline-2-sulfonic acid or 3-aminobenzenesulfonic acid pendant sulfonic acid groups to PAES-CDT backbone to promote proton conductivity. PAES-CDT homopolymers were synthesized via nucleophilic aromatic substitution reaction conditions in the presence of phase transfer catalysts, tetraethylammonium chloride (TEAC) catalyzed or 18-Crown-6 ether (18-C-6). The confirmation of PAES-CDT chemical structure was verified by ATR-FTIR analysis by the appearance of a peak around 2,200-2,250 cm-1 in signaling the formation of the N-C between CDT to DCDPS monomers. Additionally, the retention of the C-Cl bond on the CDT was also demonstrated by the presence of a peak at less than 600 cm-1. Further analysis to confirm the effect of catalyst and pendant groups on the molecular weight and other structure-property relationships will also be investigated.

Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated poly (arylene ether sulfone 2-chloro-4, 6- diamino-1,3,5-triazine) hybrid copolymers

ACS Fall 2021

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