I. Tonozuka, Miru Yoshida, K. Kaneko
Dec 13, 2011
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0
Influential Citations
37
Citations
Journal
Polymer
Abstract
Ni(0)-catalyzed coupling polymerization of 2,5-dichloro-4′-phenoxybenzophenone was investigated by varying the ligand and coligand, temperature, reaction time, and solvent. The weight-average molecular weight (Mw) of poly(4-phenoxybenzoyl-1,4-phenylene)s (PPBPs) could be controlled by the polymerization conditions and reached a maximum of 4.4 × 105 g mol−1. Sulfonated PPBPs (S-PPBPs) with various Mws were prepared with sulfuric acid to study the effect of molecular weight on the chemical and electrical properties of PPBP-based electrolytes. The strong molecular interactions in S-PPBP provided an ion exchange capacity of 2.9 meq g−1 without loss of high mechanical properties. High molecular weight S-PPBPs had more desirable properties for fuel cell applications. While the swelling ratios and hydration numbers of S-PPBPs decreased with increasing molecular weight, the mechanical strength, proton conductivity, and fuel cell performance increased. S-PPBP also showed anisotropic behavior in the swelling and proton conductivity; such behavior is caused by the rigid-rod nature and the liquid-crystal structure.