Preparation of polymer electrolyte membrane with nanomatrix channel through sulfonation of natural rubber grafted with polystyrene

Abstract

a b s t r a c tThe mechanism of proton transport of a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) with nanomatrix channel was investigated with respect to the activation energy of proton conductivity. The PEM with nanomatrix channel was prepared by graft-copolymerization of styrene onto deproteinized natural rubber (DPNR) followed by sulfonation with chlorosulfonic acid. The resulting sulfonated graft-copolymer (SDPNR-graft-PS) was characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, solid-state 13 C CP/MAS NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and impedance analysis. The PEM was found to form completely continuous nanomatrix channel consisting of natural rubber particle of about 1 μm in average diameter as a dispersoid and sulfonated polystyrene of about 60 nm in thickness as a matrix. The value of the activation energy of proton conductivity estimated from the slope of Arrhenius plot was 12 kJ/mol for SDPNR-graft-PS, suggesting that the proton transport occurred in a manner of Grotthuss mechanism.

Preparation of hydrogenated natural rubber with nanomatrix structure

“…Figure illustrates the FT‐IR spectra of HDPNR and HDPNR‐ g‐ SAN. The worthy of note is that a band appears at 1542 cm −1 , which was assigned to the characteristic band of aromatic C═C stretching vibration . In addition, the peak at 2253 cm −1 is assigned to the stretching vibration of C≡N .…”

“…The worthy of note is that a band appears at 1542 cm −1 , which was assigned to the characteristic band of aromatic C═C stretching vibration. 26 In addition, the peak at 2253 cm −1 is assigned to the stretching vibration of C≡N. 27 These demonstrated acrylonitrile and styrene were successfully grafted on hydrogenated natural rubber.…”

Performance of the sulfonated poly ether ether ketone proton exchange membrane modified with sulfonated polystyrene and phosphotungstic acid for microbial fuel cell applications

“…The IEC of SPS48* was compared to those of other researches in Table 5. Leon‐condes et al, 36 Fukuhara et al, 37 and Peng et al 38 carried out the sulfonation process under hard operating conditions (higher temperature and more H 2 SO 4 /polystyrene ratio) and obtained much lower IEC compared to this work. This can be attributed to the novel and optimized sulfonation method that was conducted in this work as was summarized below:…”

Deproteinized natural rubber‐graft‐polyacrylamide‐graft‐polystyrene (DPNR‐g‐PAM‐g‐PSt): Preparation and performance study of a new water swellable rubber

“…The modification of NR by grafting can enhance its advantages while compensating for these disadvantages. To date, materials such as acrylic acid, 4,5 Styrene (St), [6][7][8][9] Acrylonitrile (AN), 10,11 Methyl methacrylate, 12 maleic anhydride, 13 and Hydroxyethyl methacrylate [14][15][16] have been widely used for grafting of NR. It is important to remove proteins from natural latex before grafting because some people are allergic to NR products containing proteins and because proteins can terminate the free radicals involved in the reaction.…”