Sulfonation and characterization of styrene-indene copolymers for the development of proton conducting polymer membranes

The aim of this work is to obtain polymer precursors based on styrene copolymers with distinct degrees of sulfonation, as an alternative material for fuel cell membranes. Acetyl sulfate was used to carry out the sulfonation and the performance of the polyelectrolyte was evaluated based on the conten...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Becker, Cristiane Miotto, Biagini, Amanda Bertolo, Forte, Maria Madalena de Camargo, Amico, Sandro Campos, Vargas, José Viriato Coelho, Azambuja, Denise Schermann
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2012
País:Brasil
Institución:Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS)
Repositorio:Repositório Institucional da UFRGS
Idioma:inglés
OAI Identifier:oai:www.lume.ufrgs.br:10183/75741
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10183/75741
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Engenharia de materiais
Blendas
Estireno
Copolímeros
Styrene-indene
Fuel cells
Sulfonation
Blends
Descripción
Sumario:The aim of this work is to obtain polymer precursors based on styrene copolymers with distinct degrees of sulfonation, as an alternative material for fuel cell membranes. Acetyl sulfate was used to carry out the sulfonation and the performance of the polyelectrolyte was evaluated based on the content of acid polar groups incorporated into the macromolecular chain. Polymeric films were produced by blending the sulfonated styrene-indene copolymer with poly(vinylidene fluoride). The degree of sulfonation of the polymer was strongly affected by the sulfonation reaction parameters, with a direct impact on the ionic exchange capacity and the ionic conductivity of the sulfonated polymers and the membranes obtained from them. The films produced with the blends showed more suitable mechanical properties, although the conductivity of the membranes was still lower than that of commercially available membranes used in fuel cells.