title: Graft-crosslinked copolymers based on poly(arylene ether ketone)-gc-sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) for PEMFC applications.
abstract: Novel poly(arylene ether ketone) polymers with fluorophenyl pendants and phenoxide-terminated wholly sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) oligomers are prepared via Ni(0)-catalyzed and nucleophilic polymerization, respectively, and subsequently used as starting materials to obtain graft-crosslinked membranes as polymer electrolyte membranes. The phenoxide-terminated sulfonated moieties are introduced as hydrophilic parts as well as crosslinking units. The chemical structure and morphology of the obtained membranes are confirmed by (1) H NMR and tapping-mode AFM. The properties required for fuel cell applications, including water uptake and dimensional change, as well as proton conductivity, are investigated. AFM results show a clear nanoscale phase-separation microstructure of the obtained membranes. The membranes show good dimensional stability and reasonably high proton conductivities under 30-90% relative humidity. The anisotropic proton conductivity ratios (σ(formula see text) ) of the membranes in water are in the range 0.65-0.92, and increase with an increase in hydrophilic block length. The results indicate that the graft-crosslinked membranes are promising candidates for applications as polymer electrolyte membranes.
authors.affiliation: School of Environmental and Biological Engineering, Nanjing University of Science and Technology, Nanjing 210094, China.
authors.forename: Xuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Zhaoxia
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Hu
authors.forename: Linqiang
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Jianmei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Shouwen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Lianjun
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000737:chemistry; D011211:Electric Power Supplies; D004987:Ethers / Q000737:chemistry*; D007659:Ketones / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000138:chemical synthesis / Q000737:chemistry*; D013450:Sulfones / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D004987:Ethers; D007659:Ketones; D011108:Polymers; D013450:Sulfones