Preparation and Characteristics of Partially Fluorinated-Sulfonated Poly(biphenylene-co-sulfone)ether Membranes for Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell

A series of partially fluorinated, sulfonated poly(biphenylene-co-sulfone)ether containing perfluorocyclobutane(PFCB) groups were prepared for fuel cell applications through three synthetic steps: synthesis of trifluorovinylether-terminated monomers, thermal cycloaddition and post-sulfonation. Two kinds of trifluorovinylether-terminated monomers were synthesized and statistically copolymerized via thermal cycloaddition to obtain a series of polymers containing 20-60 mol% of biphenyl units(PBS-X). The post-sulfonation of PBS-X was carried out using chlorosulfonic acid(CSA) to obtain copolymers with various sulfonation levels(SPBS-X). All the synthesized compounds, monomers and polymers were characterized by 1 H-NMR, 19 F-NMR and FT-IR. It was confirmed that the ion exchange capacity(IEC), water uptake and ion conductivity of SPBS-X increased with the increment of sulfonated biphenyl units. Particularly, SPBS-60 showed higher ion conductivity compared to Nafion®-115 at 25∼80 ℃.