Polymer electrolyte membrane, and process for the production thereof

US5561202A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• Hoechst GmbH · DE

Inventors

• Freddy Helmer-Metzmann · Essenheim, DE
• Frank Osan · Kelkheim, DE
• Arnold Schneller · Mainz, DE
• Helmut Ritter · Wuppertal, DE
• Konstantin Ledjeff · Schwalbach, DE
• Roland Nolte · Denzlingen, DE
• Ralf Thorwirth · Wuppertal, DE

Key dates

• Filing date: May 19, 1995
• Grant date: Oct 1, 1996
• Expiry date: May 19, 2015

Classification

• Technology area (CPC Y): Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
• CPC primary: Y10S522/905
• WIPO field: Chemical engineering
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

In order to produce a polymer electrolyte membrane from sulfonated, aromatic polyether ketone, an aromatic polyether ketone of the formula (I) ##STR1## in which Ar is a phenylene ring having p- and/or m-bonds, Ar' is a phenylene, naphthylene, biphenylene, anthrylene or another divalent aromatic unit, X, N and M, independently of one another are 0 or 1, Y is 0, 1, 2 or 3, P is 1, 2, 3 or 4, is sulfonated and the sulfonic acid is isolated. At least 5% of the sulfonic groups in the sulfonic acid are converted into sulfonyl chloride groups, and these are reacted with an amine containing at least one crosslinkable substituent or a further functional group, and unreacted sulfonyl chloride groups are subsequently hydrolyzed. The resultant aromatic sulfonamide is isolated and dissolved in an organic solvent, the solution is converted into a film, and the crosslinkable substituents in the film are then crosslinked. In specific cases, the crosslinkable substituents can be omitted. In this case, sulfonated polyether ketone is converted into a film from solution.