A functional monomer to synthesize sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) with sulfonic acid group in the pendant side chain

Abstract A functional monomer which enables the synthesis of sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK) polymer with the sulfonic acid group in the pendant side chain has been successfully developed. 1, 3‐propane sultone was used as the model compound to introduce the side chain moiety in the monomer. The above sulfonated monomer (0.50 mol) along with 4, 4′‐difluorobenzophenone (0.50 mol) were reacted with bisphenol‐A (1.0 mol) to obtain the SPEEK polymer with the sulfonic acid group in the pendant side chain. All the intermediates and the SPEEK polymer were characterized using 1 H‐NMR. The SPEEK polymer is expected to have improved mechanical and electrical properties for PEM fuel cell application. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012