Publication Date
2014
Document Type
Thesis
Committee Members
William Feld (Committee Member), Eric Fossum (Advisor), Daniel Ketcha (Committee Member)
Degree Name
Master of Science (MS)
Abstract
A series of fluorinated poly(arylene ether)s, PAE, bearing sulfonated pendent sulfonyl groups, was prepared. A range of Ion Exchange Capacity (IEC) values were achieved by varying the ratios of sulfonated and non sulfonated monomers. Incorporation of both of the monomers was confirmed by NMR spectroscopy and characterization of the thermal properties was done using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning (DSC). Polymers with these IEC values were synthesized in order to explore their use as a potential alternatives to the widely studied proton exchange membrane, Nafion, with an IEC of 0.91 meq/g.
Using N-phenyl-3,5-difluorobenzene sulfonamide as the starting material a series of N-alkyl derivatives, with chain lengths of 3 to 12 carbon atoms, was prepared and characterized followed by conversion to the corresponding PAE. The polymer structure was confirmed by 1H and 13C NMR spectroscopy. Molecular weight data were obtained by size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and thermal data were acquired using TGA and DSC. The effect of alkyl chain length on the thermal stability and glass transition temperatures, Tg, values was determined. Increasing the alkyl chain length led to a decrease in the Tg values, which ranged from 111 down to 46 oC.
Page Count
72
Department or Program
Department of Chemistry
Year Degree Awarded
2014
Copyright
Copyright 2014, all rights reserved. This open access ETD is published by Wright State University and OhioLINK.
