Polymer membranes specific resistivity

Vacik, J., and Kopecek, J., Specific resistances of hydrophilic membranes containing ionogenic groups, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 19, 3029-3044 (1975). 

With the trend to higher temperature of fuel cell operation, as is needed for both automotive and stationary applications, and the requirement for high performance, recent developments have tended towards the use not only of low-EW PFSA polymer membranes, but also in the employment of membranes of thickness only 25-30 pm (compared with the use of films of ca. 175 pm ten years ago) for their lower area specific resistance and increased water permeation rate, and both of these factors impact the membrane s mechartical strength. The difficulty lies in... 

The characteristics of fluoropolymers are summarized in Table 1. Thermal and chemical resistance is in general with most of plastics, elastomers and perfluorinated membranes. Weather resistance with the outdoor durability for more than 20 years is specific for fluorinated paint resins. Surface properties such as water and oil repellency are provided by acrylic polymer-based textile finishes and coatings with long-chain per-fluoroalkyl groups. Electrical properties as well as a low refractive index are important for optoelectronics applications like optical fibers. 

Linear polycarbosilanes and polycarbosiloxanes-especially those containing arylene units in the chain-have specific physico-chemical properties which can be applicable in heat-resistant materials [29-31]. Phenylene-silylene-ethylene-polymers, which may serve as potential substrates for applications as membrane materials are usually obtained in the presence of platinum catalysts [32], although other transihon-metal complexes have also been tested in this process. 

This paper has provided the reader with an introduction to a class of polymers that show great potential as reverse osmosis membrane materials — poly(aryl ethers). Resistance to degradation and hydrolysis as well as resistance to stress Induced creep make membranes of these polymers particularly attractive. It has been demonstrated that through sulfonation the hydrophilic/hydrophobic, flux/separation, and structural stability characteristics of these membranes can be altered to suit the specific application. It has been Illustrated that the nature of the counter-ion of the sulfonation plays a role in determining performance characteristics. In the preliminary studies reported here, one particular poly(aryl ether) has been studied — the sulfonated derivative of Blsphenol A - polysulfone. This polymer was selected to serve as a model for the development of experimental techniques as well as to permit the investigation of variables... 

---