• Membrane Journal
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.169-172
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• 2010

Silver ions of poly(vinyl chloride)-g-poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PVC-g-PSSA) graft copolymer were reduced to form silver nanoparticles under thermal condition ($80^{\circ}C$). We were successful in synthesizing silver nanoparticles with various morphologies by changing reaction time. At short reaction times (~1 h), silver nanoparticles with 5 nm in size were formed without disrupting a microphase-separated structure of graft copolymer. At medium reaction times (~5 h), silver nanoparticles were aggregated to form large clusters ranging 30~50 nm in size. At much longer reaction times (~18 h), hurricane-like silver clusters were observed due to strong particle aggregation.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.311-317
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• 2007

Proton conducting crosslinked membranes have been prepared by polymer blending, which consist of poly(vinyl alcohol-co-ethylene) (PVA-co-PE) and poly(styrene sulfonic acid-co-maleic acid) (PSSA-co-PMA) at 50 : 50 wt ratio. Two kinds of PSSA-co-PMA copolymer with 3 : 1 and 1 : 1 the molar ratio of PSSA to PMA wereused as a proton conducting source. The ethylene content of PVA-co-PE was also changed as 0, 27 and 44 mol%. The membranes were thermally crosslinked via the esterification reaction between -OH of PVA and -COOH of PMA, as demonstrated by FT-IR spectroscopy (PVA-co-PE)/(PSSA-co-PMA) membranes with 3 : 1 the molar ratio of PSSA to PMA showed higher ion exchange capacity (IEC), lower water uptake and higher proton conductivity than those with 1 : 1 molar ratio. As the PE concentration increased, the IEC values, water uptake and proton conductivities decreased continuously. These properties were elucidated in terms of competitive effect between the concentration of sulfonic acid, hydrophilicity and the crosslinked structure of membranes.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2010

This study focuses on the investigation of the possibility of the crosslinked poly (vinyl alcohol) membranes with both poly (acrylic acid-co-maleic acid) (PAM) and 3-(trihydroxysilyl)-1-propane-sulfonic acid (THS-PSA) for the direct methanol fuel cell application. In order to characterize the prepared membranes, the water content, the thermal gravimetric analysis, the ion exchange capacity, the ion conductivity and the methanol permeability measurements were carried out and then compared with the existing Nafion 115 membrane. The ion exchange capacity of the resulting membranes showed 1.6~1.8 meq./g membrane which was improved than Nafion 115, 0.91 meq./g membrane. In the case of the proton conductivity, the THS-PSA introduced membranes gave more excellent $0.042{\sim}0.056\;S{\cdot}cm^{-1}$ than Nafion 115, $0.024\;S{\cdot}cm^{-1}$. On the other hand, the methanol permeability was increased more than Nafion 115 for all the range of THA-PSA concentration.

• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.232-240
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• 2019

A superabsorbent hydrogel (SAH) can absorb and retain water weighing more than a hundred times of their dry weight because of their three-dimensional hydrophilic structure. To fabricate an SAH, itaconic acid (IA) and vinyl sulfonic acid (VSA) were subjected to radical polymerization in an aqueous solution, wherein IA and VSA were neutralized, and then, a crosslinker and a thermal initiator were added in sequence. The structure of poly(IA-co-VSA) was characterized using attenuated total reflectance Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy. We also studied the changes in the absorption properties of the SAH composites according to the polymerization temperature, degree of neutralization, type and content of the initiator used, and type and content of the crosslinker used. Thus, we could determine the effects of some synthetic factors on the absorption properties of the SAH.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.101-109
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• 2003

In the present study, crosslinked poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) membranes were prepared at various crosslinking agent content using sulfosuccinic acid (SSA) containing sulfonic acid group ($SO_3H)$. To reduce methanol permeability, silica was introduced to the membrane using sol-gel process. The hybrid membranes were studied in relation to proton conductivity and methanol permeability. It was found that both these properties were very dependent on the effect of SSA content as a crosslinking agent and as a donor of hydrophilic $SO_3H)$ group. The proton conductivities of these PVA/SSA/Silica membranes are in the range from $10^{-3}\;to\;10^{-2}$S/cm and the methanol permeabilities are in the range from $10^{-8}\;to\;10^{-7}\;cm^2/sec$.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.549-554
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• 2008

Proton conducting crosslinked membranes were prepared using polymer blends of polystyrene-b-poly(hydroxyethyl acrylate)-b-poly(styrene sulfonic acid) (PS-b-PHEA-b-PSSA) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA). PS-b-PHEA-b-PSSA triblock copolymer at 28:21:51 wt% was synthesized sequentially using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). FT-IR spectroscopy showed that after thermal ($120^{\circ}C$, 2 h) and chemical (sulfosuccinic acid, SA) treatments of the membranes, the middle PHEA block of the triblock copolymer was crosslinked with PVA through an esterification reaction between the -OH group of the membrane and the -COOH group of SA. The ion exchange capacity (IEC) decreased from 1.56 to 0.61 meq/g with increasing amount of PVA. Therefore, the proton conductivity at room temperature decreased from 0.044 to 0.018 S/cm. However, the introduction of PVA resulted in a decrease in water uptake from 87.0 to 44.3%, providing good mechanical properties applicable to the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) of fuel cells. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) showed that the membrane was microphase-separated with a nanometer range with good connectivity of the $SO_3H$ ionic aggregates. The power density of a single $H_2/O_2$ fuel cell system using the membrane with 50 wt% PVA was $230\;mW/cm^2$ at $70^{\circ}C$ with a relative humidity of 100%. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) also showed a decrease in the thermal stability of the membranes with increasing PVA concentration.

• Polymer(Korea)
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• v.34 no.6
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• pp.540-546
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• 2010

In this manuscript, in order to reduce methanol permeability and, at the same time, to increase proton conductivity THS-PSA containing silica compound, responsible for methanol permeability reduction, and sulfonic acid, responsible for proton conductivity enhancement, was applied onto PVA/PSSA-MA membranes. And in order to improve durability, the resulting membranes, PVA/PSSAMA/THS-PSA, were exposed to 500ppm F2 gas at varying reaction times. The surface-fluorinated membranes were characterized through the measurement of contact angles, thermo-gravimetric analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy to observe the physico-chemical changes. For the evaluation of the electro-chemical changes in the resulting membranes, its water contents, ion exchange capacity, proton conductivity, and methanol permeability were measured and then compared with the commercial membrane, Nafion 115. Finally, the membran electrode assembly(MEA) was prepared and the cell voltage against the current density was measured. As fluorination time increased, the contents of F2 increased up to maximum 4.3% and to depth of 50 nm. At 60 min of fluorination, the proton conductivity was 0.036 S/cm, larger than Nafion 115 at 0.024 S/cm, and the methanol permeability was $9.26E-08cm^2/s$, less than Nafion 115 at $1.17E-06cm^2/s$.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
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• 2010.06a
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• pp.126.2-126.2
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• 2010

The "grafting from" technology to prepare the well-defined microphase-separated structure of polymer using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) will be introduced in this presentation. Various amphiphilic comb copolymers were synthesized through this approach using poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-co-CTFE) and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) as a macroinitiator. Hydrophilic side chains such as poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) or poly (sulfopropyl methacrylate) (PSPMA) were grafted from the mains chains using direct initiation of the chlorine atoms. The structure of mass transport channels has been controlled and fixed by crosslinking the hydrophobic domains, which also provides the greater mechanical properties of membranes. Successful synthesis and microphase-separated structure of the polymer were confirmed by $^1H$ NMR, FT-IR spectroscopy and TEM. The grafted/crosslinked membranes exhibited good mechanical properties (400 MPa of Young's modulus) and high thermal stability (up to $300^{\circ}C$), as determined by a universal testing machine (UTM) and TGA, respectively.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.379-383
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• 2004

Poly(ethylene glycol)s (PEGs) are unique in their material properties, such as biocompatibility, non-toxicity, and water-solublizing ability, which are extremely useful for a variety of biomedical applications. In addition, a variety of functional PEGs with specific functionality at one or both chain ends have been synthesized for many specialized applications. Surface modifications using PEG have been demonstrated to decrease protein adsorption and platelet or cell adhesion on biomaterials. Furthermore, PEGs having anionic sulfonate terminal units have been proven to enhance the blood compatibility of materials, which has been demonstrated by the negative cilia concept. The preparation of telechelic PEGs having a sulfonic acid group at one end and a polymerizable methacryloyl group at the other is an interesting undertaking for providing macromers that can be used in various vinyl copolymerization and gel systems. In this paper, preliminary results on the synthesis and polymerization behavior of a novel PEG macromer is described with the aim of identifying a biocompatible material for applications in various blood-contacting devices.

• Membrane Journal
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.193-200
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• 2011

An amphiphilic graft copolymer comprising a poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) backbone and poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) side chains (PVC-g-PSSA) was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Mesoporous titanium dioxide $(TiO_2)$ films with crystalline anatase phase were synthesized via a sol-gel process by templating PVC-g-PSSA graft copolymer. Titanium isopropoxide (TTIP), a $TiO_2$ precursor was selectively incorporated into the hydrophilic PSSA domains of the graft copolymer and grew to form mesoporous $TiO_2$ films, as confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. The performances of dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC) were systematically investigated by varying spin coating times and the amounts of P25 nanoparticies. The energy conversion efficiency reached up to 2.7% at 100 mW/$cm^2$ upon using quasi-solid-state polymer electrolyte.