Highly Proton Conducting Polyelectrolyte Membranes with Unusual Water Swelling Behavior Based on Triptycene-containing Poly(arylene ether sulfone) Multiblock Copolymers

Aboki, Joseph; Jing, Benxin; Luo, Shuangjiang; Zhu, Yingxi; Zhu, Liang; Guo, Ruilan

doi:10.1021/acsami.7b13542

Title: Highly Proton Conducting Polyelectrolyte Membranes with Unusual Water Swelling Behavior Based on Triptycene-containing Poly(arylene ether sulfone) Multiblock Copolymers

Journal Article · Tue Dec 19 00:00:00 EST 2017 · ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.7b13542· OSTI ID:1427852

Aboki, Joseph ^[1];

^[2]; Luo, Shuangjiang ^[1];

^[2];

^[3];

^[1]

Univ. of Notre Dame, IN (United States)
Wayne State Univ., Detroit, MI (United States)
Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park, PA (United States)

Multiblock poly(arylene ether sulfone) copolymers are attractive for polyelectrolyte membrane fuel cell applications due to their reportedly improved proton conductivity under partially hydrated conditions and better mechanical/thermal stability compared to Nafion. However, the long hydrophilic sequences required to achieve high conductivity usually lead to excessive water uptake and swelling, which degrade membrane dimensional stability. Herein, we report a fundamentally new approach to address this grand challenge by introducing shape-persistent triptycene units into the hydrophobic sequences of multiblock copolymers, which induce strong supramolecular chain-threading and interlocking interactions that effectively suppress water swelling. Consequently, unlike previously reported multiblock copolymer systems, the water swelling of the triptycene-containing multiblock copolymers did not increase proportionally with water uptake. This combination of high water uptake and low swelling behavior of these copolymers resulted in excellent proton conductivity and membrane dimensional stability under fully hydrated conditions. In particular, the triptycene-containing multiblock copolymer film with the longest hydrophilic block length (i.e., BPSH100-TRP0-15k-15k) had a water uptake of 105%, an excellent proton conductivity of 0.150 S/cm, and a volume swelling ratio of just 29% (more than 42% reduction compared to Nafion 212).

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Research Organization:: Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States). Advanced Photon Source (APS)

Sponsoring Organization:: USDOE Office of Science (SC), Basic Energy Sciences (BES). Chemical Sciences, Geosciences, and Biosciences Division; Center of Sustainable Energy at Notre Dame (ND Energy)

Grant/Contract Number:: SC0010330; AC02-06CH11357

OSTI ID:: 1427852

Journal Information:: ACS Applied Materials and Interfaces, Vol. 10, Issue 1; ISSN 1944-8244

Publisher:: American Chemical Society (ACS)Copyright Statement

Country of Publication:: United States

Language:: ENGLISH

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Cited by: 28 works

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36 MATERIALS SCIENCE
polyelectrolyte membranes
triptycene-containing poly(arylene ether sulfone)
multiblock copolymers
supramolecular interaction
water swelling