R. Nolte et al., PARTIALLY SULFONATED POLY(ARYLENE ETHER SULFONE) - A VERSATILE PROTONCONDUCTING MEMBRANE MATERIAL FOR MODERN ENERGY-CONVERSION TECHNOLOGIES, Journal of membrane science, 83(2), 1993, pp. 211-220
Sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfones) with various sulfonation level
s have been prepared and evaluated as solid polymer electrolytes in el
ectrolysers and fuel cells. Solution and slurry sulfonation of poly(ar
ylene ether sulfones) such as Udel(R) P-1700 (PSU) and Victrex(R) PES
5200P (PES) yield polyelectrolytes which have been characterized using
FTIR and H-1-NMR spectroscopy, titration, thermal analysis, and elect
rochemical characterization such as resistivity, selectivity of ion pe
rmeation, current/voltage plot and life time test in an electrolysis c
ell. In contrast to the sulfonated PSU, the PES sulfonated in a slurry
process was water insoluble, even at high sulfonation levels of 90 mo
l%, and gave significantly improved electrochemical properties similar
to those of fluorine-containing polyelectrolytes used in commercial m
embrane systems. A versatile in-situ crosslinking technique has been d
eveloped to crosslink the sulfonated poly(arylene ether sulfone) elect
rolytes during membrane processing in order to substantially reduce wa
ter swelling without impairing other membrane properties such as proto
n conductivity.