• Elastomers and Composites
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.180-186
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• 2017

In this work, the effect of low-temperature dehydration of a poly(styrene-co-styrenesulfonic acid) (PSSA) membrane was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), electron magnetic resonancespectroscopy (EMR), and $^1H$- and $^{13}C$ solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. These analyses were performed at room temperature for powdered PSSA specimens with and without dehydration and the following key observations were made. First, FT-IR analysis showed that low-temperature dehydration not only transformed the [${SO_3}^-{\cdots}H^+$] ionic pair in the non-hydrated PSSA to an $SO_3H$ group, but also induced the formation of -C=C- double bonds in the dehydrated PSSA. Second, the ${-SO_3}^{\bullet}$ radical was unambiguously identified by EMR spectroscopy. Third, H-abstraction was detected by $^1H$ magic-angle spinning spectroscopy. Finally, an unexpected color shift from white for the non-hydrated PSSA to a yellowish brown for the dehydrated sample was observed. In order to explain these experimental results, it was proposed that the formation of the intermediate hydrogen ($H^{\bullet}$) or hydroxyl radical ($HO^{\bullet}$) species was initiated by the dehydration process. The sespecies attacked the $SO_3H$ group and the tertiary proton at the ${\alpha}-carbon$, resulting in the formation of $-SO^{\bullet}$ radicals and -C=C- double bonds, which correlated with the color shift in the dehydrated PSSA sample. The semechanisms are useful for understanding the simultaneous loss of an aromatic ring and -SO- groups in the PSSA fuel cell membrane.

• Korean Membrane Journal
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.52-56
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• 2007

A proton exchange membrane was prepared by ${\gamma}-irradiation-induced$ grafting of styrene into poly(tetrafluoro-ethylene-co-perfluoropropyl vinyl ether) (PFA) and subsequent sulfonation reaction. The degree of grafting (DOG) increased with an increase in the absorbed dose. The prepared membranes showed high ion exchange capacity reaching 3.0 meq/g, which exceeded the performance of commercially available perfluorosulfonic acid membranes such as Nafion. The proton conductivity of PFA-g-PSSA membrane increased with the DOG and reached 0.17 S/cm for the highest sample at room temperature. The DMFC performance of the prepared membranes with 50% DOG was comparable to that of Nafion membrane.

• Macromolecular Research
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• v.10 no.6
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• pp.304-310
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• 2002

In a recent study by the same authors using a DMTA (Dynamic Mechanical Thermal Analyzer), it was found that the 4-aminobenzoic arid (ABA) molecules acted as either a neutralizing agent, or a plasticizer, or a filler, depending on the order of mixing of poly(styrene-co-styrenesulfonic acid) (PSSA), ABA, and NaOH. Subsequent to that study, we here pursued the same topic, i.e., the effect of the addition of CsOH (instead of NaOH) and ABA on the morphology of PSSA, but this time, by using a small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) technique. In line with the previous results, the present study with the SAXS technique verified that the order of mixing has a significant effect on the morphology of ionomers. In addition, with the SAXS data and the density values of the ionomers, we attempted to calculate both the number of sulfonate ionic groups per multiplet and the size of the multiplet of the ionomer.