Sulfonated fluorinated multi-block copolymer hybrid containing sulfonated(poly ether ether ketone) and graphene oxide: A ternary hybrid membrane architecture for electrolyte applications in proton exchange membrane fuel cells

A ternary hybrid membrane architecture consisting of sulfonated fluorinated multi-block copolymer （SFMC）, sulfonated （poly ether ether ketone） （SPEEK） and I or 5 wt% graphene oxide （GO） was fabricated through a facile solution casting approach. The simple, but effective monomer sulfonation was performed for SFMC to create compact and rigid hydrophobic backbone structures, while conventional random sulfonation was carried-out for SPEEK. Hydrophilic-hydrophobic-hydrophilic structure of SFMC enhances the compatibility with SPEEK and GO and allows for an unprecedented approach to alter me- chanical strength and proton conductivity of ternary hybrid membrane, as verified from universal test machine （UTM） curves and alternating current （AC） impedance plots. The impact of GO integration on the morphology and roughness of hybrid membrane was scrutinized using field emission scanning electron microscope （FE-SEM） and atomic force microscope （AFM）. Ternary hybrid showed uniform intercalation of GO nanosheets throughout the entire surface of membrane with an increased surface roughness of 8.91 nm. The constructed ternary hybrid membrane revealed excellent water absorption, ion exchange capacity and gas barrier properties, while retaining reasonable dimensional stability. The well-optimized ternary hybrid membrane containing 5 wt% GO revealed a maximum proton conductivity of 111.9 mS/cm, which is higher by a factor of two-fold with respect to that of bare SFMC membrane. The maximum PEMFC power density of 528.07mW/cm2 was yielded by ternary hybrid membrane at a load current density of 1321.1 mA/cm2 when operating the cell at 70 ℃ under 100% relative humidity （RH）. In comparison, a maximum power density of only 182.06 mW/cm2 was exhibited by the bare SFMC membrane at a load current density of 455.56 mA/cm2 under same operating conditions.

UV-induced Self-initiated Graft Polymerization of Acrylamide onto Poly(ether ether ketone)

Photo-grafting of hydrophilic monomer was used to enhance the hydrophilicity of poly（ether ether ketone） （PEEK） with the aim of extending its applications to biological fields. PEEK sheets were surface modified by grafting of acrylamide（AAm） with ultraviolet（UV） irradiation in the presence or absence of benzophenone（BP）. The effects of BP, irradiation time and monomer concentration on the surface wettability of PEEK were investigated. Characteriza tion of modified PEEK using scanning electron microscopy（SEM）, energy-disperse spectrometer（EDS） and water contact angle measurements shows that AAm was successfully grafted on PEEK surface both in presence and absence of BP. With the increase in irradiation time and monomer concentration, contact angles decrease to as low as 30°, demonstrating a significant improvement of surface hydrophilicity. In agreement with the decrease in contact angle, under identical conditions, the nitrogen concentration increases, suggesting the increase in grafting degree of the grafting polymerization. This investigation demonstrates a self-initiation of PEEK due to its BP-like structure in the backbone of the polymer. Though the graft polymerization proceeds more readily in the presence of BP, the self-initiated graft polymerization is clearly observed.

Proton-Exchange Sulfonated Poly （ether ether ketone） （SPEEK）/SiOx-S Composite Membranes in Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

A sulfonated poly（ether ether ketone） （SPEEK） membrane with a fairly high degree of sulfonation （DS） can swell excessively and even dissolve at high temperature. To solve these problems, insolvable functionalized silica powder with sulfonic acid groups （SiOx-S） was added into the SPEEK matrix （DS = 55.1%） to prepare SPEEK/ SiOx-S composite membranes. The decrease in both the swelling degree and the methanol permeability of the membranes was a dose-dependent result of addition of the SiOx-S powder. Pure SPEEK membrane swelled 52.6% at 80℃, whereas the SPEEK/SiOx-S （15%, by mass） membrane swelled only 27.3% at the same temperature. From room temperature to 80℃, all SPEEK/SPEEK/SiOx-S composite membranes had methanol permeability of about one order of magnitude lower than that ofNafion115. Compared with pure SPEEK membranes, the addition of the SiOx-S powder not only leads to higher proton conductivity, but also increases the dimensional stability at higher temperatures, and greater proton conductivity can be achieved at higher temperature. The SPEEK/SiO4-S （20%, by mass） membrane could withstand temperature up to 145℃, at which in 100% relative humidity （RH） its proton conductivity exceeded slightly that of Nafion 1 15 membrane and reached 0.17 S·cm^-1, while pure SPEEK membrane dissolved at 90℃. The SPEEK/SiOx-S composite membranes are promising for use in direct methanol fuel cells because of their good dimensional stability, high proton conductivity, and low methanol permeability.

Proton-exchange Sulfonated Poly（ether ether ketone）/Sulfonated Phenolphthalein Poly（ether sulfone） Blend Membranes in DMFCs

A sulfonated poly（ether ether ketone） （SPEEK） membrane with fairly high degree of sulfonation （DS） swells excessively and even dissolves at high temperature. To solve these problems, sulfonated phenolphthalein poly（ether sulfone） （SPES-C, DS= 53.7%） is blended with the SPEEK matrix （DS= 55.1%, 61.7%） to prepare SPEEKJSPES-C blend membrane. The decrease in swelling degree and methanol permeability of the membrane is dose-dependent. Pure SPEEK （DS = 61.7%） membrane dissolves completely in water at 70℃, whereas the swelling degree of the SPEEK （DS = 61.7%）/SPES-C （40%, by mass） membrane is 29.7% at 80℃. From room temperature to 80℃, the methanol permeability of all SPEEK （DS = 55.1%）/SPES-C blend membranes is about one order of magnitude lower than that of Nafion 115. At higher temperature, the addition of SPES-C polymer increases the dimensional stability and greater proton conductivity can be achieved. The SPEEK （DS = 55.1%）/SPES-C （40%, by mass） membrane can withstand temperatures up to 150℃. The proton conductivity of SPEEK （DS = 55.1%）/SPES-C （30%, by mass） membrane approaches 0.16 S·cm^-1, matching that of Nafion 115 at 140℃ and 100% RH, while pure SPEEK （DS = 55.1%） membrane dissolves at 90℃. The SPEEK/SPES-C blend membranes are promising for use in direct methanol fuel cells because of their good dimensional stability, high proton conductivity, and low methanol permeability.

Immobilization of Bovine Serum Albumin on Poly(ether ether ketone) for Surface Biocompatibility Improvement

UV-induced graft polymerization of acrylic acid（AA） on poly（ether ether ketone）（PEEK） films was carried out to introduce ―COOH for the subsequent immobilization of bovine serum albumin（BSA）.BSA was introduced on PEEK surface based on the condensation reaction between ―NH 2 and ―COOH.The modified surface（PEEK-BSA） was characterized by energy-disperse spectrometry（EDS）,X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS）,water contact angle measurement and UV spectrum analysis.The contact angle was found to decrease from 104° for the virgin PEEK films to 63° for the BSA-immobilized PEEK films,demonstrating a significant improvement of surface hydrophilicity.Moreover,the appearance of nitrogen on PEEK film confirmed by XPS and EDS indicates the immobilization of BSA on PEEK surface.

Poly(ether ether ketone ketone) based imidazolium as anion exchange membranes for alkaline fuel cells

An imidazolium functionalized poly(ether ether ketone ketone)(PEEKK-DIm OH)anion exchange membrane(AEM)readily soluble in certain low-boiling-point solvents(isopropanol)is prepared.The solubility results are consistent with the results of molecular dynamics simulations.By varying the chloromethylation reaction temperature or concentrated sulfuric acid concentration of PEEKK,the degrees of chloromethylation of PEEKK are changed from 54% to 92%,the corresponding PEEKK-DIm OH AEMs with the ion exchange capacities(IECs)of 1.14–1.65 mmol·g^(-1).The PEEKK-DIm OH 92% AEM shows high hydroxide conductivity(31 m S·cm^(-1)),suitable water uptake(94%)and acceptable swelling ratio(39%)at 60°C.In addition,the PEEKK-DIm OH AEMs possess good thermal and alkaline stability.The maximum power density(46.16 mW·cm^(-2))of fuel cell prepared with PEEKK-DIm OH 92%AEM as exchange membrane and ionomer is much higher than that with commercial AHA membranes.All the above results indicate that the PEEKK used in this study is a promising AEM matrix material for alkaline fuel cells.

Review:Recent Progress on Poly(ether ether ketone) and Its Composites for Biomedical, Machinery, Energy and Aerospace Applications

Poly(ether ether ketone)(PEEK)has drown researchers’wide attention because of the exceptional performances such as mechanical properties,thermal stability,chemical resistance,and biocompatibility.These properties endow it with broad potential use in biomedical,engineering,and aerospace applications.In addition,multifunctional fillers have been intensively incorporated into PEEK matrix,as it is conducive to the enhanced properties,and has the desired properties in concrete applications.This review introduced the basic content and synthesis pathway of PEEKs and their composites,focusing on the various applications,including biomedical,machinery,energy storage,and aerospace applications.Considerable efforts have been devoted to explore the concrete modified method to obtain the desired performances of PEEK based materials.At the end,existing problems and development directions for the PEEK based materials were analyzed and predicted.

Synthesis and properties of soluble poly（aryl ether sulfone ether ketone）s copolymers containing pendant methyl groups

A series of Poly（arly ether sulfone ether ketone）s containing pendant methyl groups were synthesized by the reaction of 4,4＇-[sulfonylbis （1,4-phenylene）dioxy] dibenzoyl chloride （SODBC） with 4,4＇- diphenoxy diphenylsulfone （DPODPS）, 4,4＇- di（2-methylphenoxy） diphenylsulfone （o-Me-DPODPS）, 4,4＇- di（3-methylphenoxy） diphenylsulfone （m-Me-DPODPS）, 4,4＇- di （2,6-bimethylphenoxy） biphenylsulfone（o-Me2-DPODPS） respectively, in a mixture of 1,2-dichloroethane （DCE） and N-methylpyrrolidone （NMP）. These reactions were catalyzed by anhydrous aluminum chloride （AlCl）. The characteristic of copolymers were studied by means of advanced analytical techniques such as FT-IR,1H-NMR, DSC, TGA and WAXD. The results show glass transition temperature （Tg） in the range of 193-206℃, thermally stable in excess of 434℃ and excellent solubility in polar solvents. Methyl-substituted Poly（aryl ether sulfone ketone）s had higher glass transition temperatures, lower initial decomposition temperatures than the unsubstituted ones.

Evaluation of Stabilization Performances of Antioxidants in Poly(ether ether ketone)

Two types of antioxidants（a primary antioxidant and a secondary antioxidant） were used to improve the stability of poly（ether ether ketone）（PEEK）. The effects of the antioxidants on the properties of PEEK and the stabilization mechanism were investigated by some characterization methods, such as rheometer, thermogravimetric ana- lysis（TGA）, universal tester and electron spin resonance（ESR）. The results indicate that the efficiency of the phosphorous antioxidant（DS） in improving the stability of PEEK was better than that of the phenolic antioxidant（DN） in both melting stability and thermal stability, and the thermal stability of PEEK sample containing 0.07%（mass fraction） DS was the best among all the samples due to the decrease of the free radicals density, as proven by ESR measurement. Additionally, no obvious changes could be observed in mechanical properties of PEEK containing antioxidants compared to those of virgin PEEK.

Analysis of Solvent Effect on Mechanical Properties of Poly(ether ether ketone) Using Nano-indentation

Poly（ether ether ketone） （PEEK） is a high-performance semi-crystalline thermoplastic polymer. Exposure of the polymeric surface to solvents can have a strong effect like softening/swelling of polymeric network or dissolution. In this study, nano-indentation analysis was performed to study the effect of acetone on the surface mechanical properties of PEEK using different exposure time. The experiments were performed with a constant loading rate （10 nrn/s） to a maximum indentation displacernent （1000 nrn）. A 30-second hold segrnent was included at the maximum load to account for any creep eft）ors followed by an unloading segrnent to 80% unloading. The indentation hardness and the elastic modulus were corn- puted as a continuous function of the penetration displacernent in the continuous stiffness mode （CSM） indentation. The experirnental data showed that the peak load decreased from -5.2 mN to -1.7 mN as exposure tirne in solvent environrnent increased from 0 to 18 days. The elastic modulus and the hardness of PEEK samples also displayed a decreasing trend as a function of exposure tirne in the solvent environrnent. Two empirical models were used to fit the experirnental data of hardness as a function of exposure tirne which showed a good agreernent with the experirnental values.

Ex situ aging effect on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membrane:Hydration-dehydration cycling and hydrothermal treatment

Prolonged hydrothermal treatment for sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membranes induces mechanical degradation and developing hydrophilic-hydrophobic phase separation, simultaneously. The enhanced phase separation provides incremental proton conductivity to the membranes, whereas mechanical degradation drastically reduces device stability. On this basis, we describe here the effects of two different ex situ aging processes on sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) membranes: hydrationdehydration cycling and prolonged hydrothermal treatment. Both aged membranes exhibited enhanced phase separation under the hydrated conditions, as characterized by small angle X-ray scattering.However, when the aged membranes were dried again, the nanostructure of the membranes aged via the hydration-dehydration cycling was recoverable, whereas that of the membranes aged via prolonged hydrothermal treatment was irreversible. Furthermore, the two differently aged membranes showed clear differences in thermal, mechanical, and electrochemical properties. Finally, we implemented both aged membranes in fuel cell application. The sample aged via hydration-dehydration cycling maintained its improved cell performance, whereas the sample aged via hydrothermal treatment showed drastically reduced cell performance after durability test for 50 h.

Synthesis and characterization functionalized poly(ether ether ketone)s with carboxylic groups

A novel type of aromatic poly（ ether ether ketone） s with carboxyl groups were prepared by polycondensation of 4,4-bis（4-hydroxyphenyl）pentanoic acid with difluoro-monomers. Their mo- lecular structures were determined by ^1H-NMR and IR, respectively. Their molecular weights were measured by gel permeation chromatography （ GPC ）, which showed that all the polymers had high molecule weights （ 〉 42 000）. Due to the long side chains of polymers, all the polymers had good solubility （soluble in NMP, DMAc, THF, etc. ）. The differential scanning calorimeter （DSC） detected their excellent glass transition temperatures （ Tg ） up to 195 ℃. The Tg increased with the content of carboxylic units in the polymer chains, because the interactions of H bonds increased with increasing content of carboxylic. The polymers could form transparent and flexible films, which make them a candidate for membrane materials.

Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)/zirconium tricarboxybutylphosphonate composite proton-exchange membranes for direct methanol fuel cells

Sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)(SPEEK)is a very promising alternative membrane material for direct methanol fuel cells.However,with a fairly high degree of sulfonation(DS),SPEEK membranes can swell excessively and even dissolve at high temperature.This restricts mem-branes from working above a high tolerable temperature to get high proton conductivity.To deal with this contra-dictory situation,insolvable zirconium tricarboxybutyl-phosphonate(Zr(PBTC))powder was employed to make a composite with SPEEK polymer in an attempt to improve temperature tolerance of the membranes.SPEEK/Zr(PBTC)composite membranes were obtained by casting a homogeneous mixture of Zr(PBTC)and SPEEK in N,N-dimethylacetamide on a glass plate and then evaporating the solvent at 60℃.Many characteristics were investigated,including thermal stability,liquid uptake,methanol permeability and proton conductivity.Results showed significant improvement not only in tem-perature tolerance,but also in methanol resistance of the SPEEK/Zr(PBTC)composite membranes.The mem-branes containing 30 wt-%,40 wt-% of Zr(PBTC)had their methanol permeability around 10^(-7) cm^(2)·s^(-1) at room temperature to 80℃,which was one order of magnitude lower than that of Nafion H 115.High proton conductivity of the composite membranes,however,could also be achieved from higher temperature applied.At 100% rela-tive humidity,above 90℃ the conductivity of the compo-site membrane containing 40 wt-% of Zr(PBTC)exceeded that of the Nafion H 115 membrane and even reached a high value of 0.36 S·cm^(-1) at 160uC.Improved applicable tem-perature and high conductivity of the composite membrane indicatedits promisingapplication in DMFC operationsat high temperature.

Fluorinated polymer with high thermal stability for fabrication of 32-channel arrayed waveguide grating multiplexer on silicon

A cross-linkable fluorinated poly (ether ether ketone) (FPEEK) was synthesized for the fabrication of arrayed waveguide grating (AWG) multiplexer. The results of thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and near-infrared absorption spectrum show that the materials have high thermal stability and high optical transparency in the infrared communication region. The refractive index of FPEEK can be controlled easily by changing the fluorine content of the materials. The 32-channel AWG multiplexer is fabricated using the FPEEK and oxygen reactive ion etching technology. The AWG multiplexer exhibits that the insertion loss is from 12.8 to 17.8 dB and the channel crosstalk is less than-20 dB. The wavelength channel spacing and the center wavelength are 0.8nm and 1548nm, respectively.

Thermal behavior and phase behavior in blends of liquid crystalline poly(aryl ether ketone) and poly(aryl ether ether ketone) containing thioether units

Thermal behavior and phase behavior in blends of liquid crystalline poly(aryl ether ketone) with lateral methoxy groups (M-PAEK) and poly(aryl ether ether ketone) containing thioether units (S-PEEK) have been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and polarized light microscopy (PLM) techniques. The results indicate that the composition of the blends has great effect on the phase behavior and morphology. Thin films of pure M-PAEK and S-PEEK crystallized from the melts exhibit typical mosaic and spherulitic structures, respectively. For the blends with higher M-PAEK contents (> 50%), an unusual ring-banded spherulite with structural discontinuity is formed. The bright core and rings of the ring-banded spherulites under PLM are composed of M-PAEK phase, while the dark rings consist mainly of S-PEEK phase. For the 50:50 M-PAEK/S-PEEK blend, the ring-banded spherulites and S-PEEK spherulites coexist, which implies that a partial phase separation between the two components takes place in the melting state. In S-PEEK-rich blends, a volume-filled spherulite is produced. In addition, the effect of isothermal crystallization temperature on the phase behavior, especially the ring-banded spherulite formation in the blends, is discussed.

Hybird Membrane with High Proton Conductivity and Selectivity Based on SPEEK for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells

Composite membranes based on sulfonated silica/sulfonated poly（ether ether ketone）（SPEEK） were prepared by means of sol-gel method so as to gain a high conductivity and reasonable methanol permeability.The sulfonated silica is generated in situ via the hydrolysis of sulfonated 3-anminopropyl triethoxysilane（KH550） synthesized newly from 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane and 1,4-butane sultone.The membrane with a silica mass fraction of 5% exhibits a conductivity of 0.187 S/cm at 80 °C and a methanol coefficient with 9.72×10-7 cm2/s.The composite membranes show improved condutive ability and better selectivity that can be promisingly used in direct methanol fuel cell.

Highly conductive and robust composite anion exchange membranes by incorporating quaternized MIL-101(Cr)

With well-defined channels and tunable functionality, metal-organic frameworks （MOFs） have inspired the design of a new class of ion-conductive compounds. In contrast to the extensive studies on proton- conductive MOFs and related membranes attractive for fuel cells, rare reports focus on MOFs in preparation of anion exchange membranes. In this study, chloromethylated MIL-101 （Cr） was prepared and incor- porated into chloromethylated poly （ether ether ketone） （PEEK） as a multifunctional filler to prepare imidazolium PEEK/imidazolium MIL-101（Cr） （ImPEEK/ImMIL-101（Cr）） anion exchange membrane after synchronous quaternization. The successful synthesis and chloromethylation of MIL-101（Cr） were veri- fied by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy while the enhanced performance of composite membranes in hydroxide conductivity, mechanical strength and dimensional stability were evaluated by alternating-current impedance, electronic stretching machine and measurement of swelling ratio. Specifically, incorporating 5.0wt% ImMIL-101（Cr） afforded a 71.4% increase in hydroxide conductivity at 20℃, 100% RH. Besides, the composite membranes exhibited enhanced dimensional stability and mechanical strength due to the rigid framework of ImMIL- 101（Cr）. At room temperature and the ImM1L-101（Cr） content of 10wt%, the swelling ratio of the ImPEEK/lmMIL-101（Cr） was 70.04% lower while the tensile strength was 47.5% higher than that of the pure membrane.