Sulfonation and characterization of poly (styrene-isobutylene-styrene) triblock copolymers at high ion-exchange capacities Academic Article uri icon

abstract

  • In this study, a triblock copolymer, poly(styrene-isobutylene-styrene), was sulfonated to eight different levels ranging from 0.36 to 2.04mequiv./g (13 to 82mol% of styrene; styrene is 19mol% of the unsulfonated block copolymer). These sulfonated polymers were characterized with elemental analysis and infrared spectroscopy to confirm sulfonation and determine accurate sulfonation levels. Infrared analysis revealed four additional stretching vibrations as a result of sulfonation. Also, a linear relationship between absorbance at 1006 cm-1 (stretching of the aromatic ring in styrene caused by the para-substituted sulfonic acid) and sulfonation level (measured by elemental analysis) was found. The density and water solubility of all the sulfonated polymers were measured and increased with increasing sulfonation level, as high as 1.31 g/cm3 and 351wt%, respectively. In addition, a sulfonated triblock copolymer at 79mol% sulfonation was neutralized with a cesium cation and revealed an increase in density, but a reduction in water solubility. This study demonstrates the resulting unique properties of sulfonated styrene-based block copolymers at higher ion-exchange capacities than previously reported. 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

published proceedings

  • POLYMER

altmetric score

  • 6

author list (cited authors)

  • Elabd, Y. A., & Napadensky, E.

citation count

  • 107

complete list of authors

  • Elabd, YA||Napadensky, E

publication date

  • January 2004