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Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated polyphosphazene-graft-polystyrene copolymers for proton exchange membranes

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Abstract

A novel series of polyphosphazene-graft-polystyrene (PP-g-PS) copolymers were successfully prepared by atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of styrene monomers and brominated poly(bis(4-methylphenoxy)phosphazene) macroinitiator. The graft density and the graft length could be regulated by changing the bromination degree of the macroinitiator and the ATRP reaction time, respectively. The PP-g-PS copolymers readily underwent a regioselective sulfonation reaction, which occurred preferentially at the polystyrene sites, producing the sulfonated PP-g-PS copolymers with a range of ion exchange capacities. The resulting sulfonated PP-g-PS membranes prepared by solution casting showed high water uptake, low water swelling and considerable proton conductivity. They also exhibited good oxidative stability and high resistance to methanol crossover. Morphological studies of the membranes by transmission electron microscopy showed clear nanophase-separated structures resulted from hydrophobic polyphosphazene backbone and hydrophilic polystyrene sulfonic acid segments, indicating the formation of proton transferring tunnels. Therefore, these sulfonated copolymers may be candidate materials for proton exchange membranes in direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) applications.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry, Beijing Institute of Technology, Zhongguancun South Street, Beijing, 100081, China

    Min-lan He, Yan Dong, Jia-hong Xiao, Peng Liu, Feng-yan Fu, Saghir Hussain, Shu-zhen Zhang, Chao-jun Jing & Chang-jin Zhu  (朱长进)

  2. Beijing Qintian Science & Technology Development Co., Ltd, Beijing, 100070, China

    Hu-lin Xu

  3. Beijing Institute of Transfusion Medicine, Beijing, 100850, China

    Qun Yu

Authors
  1. Min-lan He
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  2. Hu-lin Xu
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  3. Yan Dong
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  4. Jia-hong Xiao
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  5. Peng Liu
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  6. Feng-yan Fu
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  7. Saghir Hussain
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  9. Chao-jun Jing
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  10. Qun Yu
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  11. Chang-jin Zhu  (朱长进)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Chang-jin Zhu  (朱长进).

Additional information

This work was financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No.51103012).

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He, Ml., Xu, Hl., Dong, Y. et al. Synthesis and characterization of sulfonated polyphosphazene-graft-polystyrene copolymers for proton exchange membranes. Chin J Polym Sci 32, 151–162 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-014-1394-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10118-014-1394-0

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