Sulfonated Fluorovinylene Aromatic Ether Polymers for Proton Exchange Membranes²

Abstract

A new semi-fluorinated perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB) aryl ether containing polymer was prepared in high yield via the condensation of a commercial 4,4 1 -((1,2,3,3,4,4-hexafluorocyclobutane-1,2-diyl)bis(oxy))bisphenol (bisphenol T) and bis(trifluorovinyloxyether)biphenyl producing transparent, flexible films. The polymer system was structurally characterized using 1 H and 19 F NMR and exhibited a high degree of thermal stability as determined by thermogravimetric analysis capacity. The sulfonated analogue showed the highest degree of sulfonation at 27% from ion-exchange chromatography, producing a conductivity of 0.011 S cm 21 at 100% relative humidity.

Facile method towards functionalization of partially fluorinated polyarylethers via sequential post-polymerization modification

“…This encourages us to develop a new strategy to incorporate a variety of functionalities into fluoropolymers to broaden their applications. Although PPM has been widely used to prepare non-fluorinated functional polymers [29][30][31][32][33][34], very few functional fluoropolymers were prepared via PPM [7,[35][36][37][38][39]. Recently a new class of fluoropolymers, partially fluorinated arylene vinylene ether (FAVE) polymers, was developed [5,10].…”

“…Functionalized fluoropolymers would be of interest because they would combine the aforementioned merits of fluorinated materials for specific applications [4]. Such tailored fluoropolymers, specifically PFCB aryl ethers, have been involved in various applications including thermally crosslinkable additives [5], proton exchange members (PEMs) for fuel cells [6,7], chemical sensors [8,9], polymer light emitting diodes (PLEDs) [10], gas separation membranes [11], and electro-optical (EO) materials [12,13].…”

Synthesis, Characterization, and Properties of New Fluorosilicone Block Copolymers

“…The resulting polymers possess 1,2-difluoroethylene (Z = CF=CF) or 1,2,2-hydrofluoroethane (Z = CHFCF 2 ) enchainment depending on the nature of the base. These polymers can be modularly tailored by functionalization of the aryl group (the functional spacer) for applications including thermally crosslinkable fluoroelastomer additives (10,11), proton exchange membranes (PEMs) for hydrogen-based fuel cells (12), polymer light emitting diodes (PLEDs) (13), and chemical sensors (14,15). The work herein entails the expansion of FAVE polymer systems with the first preparation of silicone block PFCB aryl ether copolymers.…”

Preparation of segmented semifluorinated poly(aryl ether)s from aromatic trifluorovinyl ethers and oligo(ethylene glycol)s

“…PFCB aryl ether polymers have been investigated for many applications including polymer electrolytic membranes (PEMs) for fuel cells, optical waveguides in telecommunications, and liquid crystalline (LC) polymers for displays . FAVE polymers have been tailored for proton electrolyte membranes (PEMs) and ion sensing …”