文摘
Ordered morphologies in disulfonated poly(arylene sulfide sulfone nitrile) (SPSN) copolymers were generated via thermal annealing followed by multiblock copolymer synthesis. While SPSN random copolymers (R-SPSN) showed featureless morphologies, the SPSN multiblock copolymers (B-SPSN) exhibited cocontinuous lamellar morphologies with a center-to-center interdomain size of up to 40 nm. In spite of the well-ordered, interconnected hydrophilic domains, the water self-diffusion coefficient (e.g., D = (0.7鈥?.0) 脳 10p>鈥?0p> mp>2p> sp>鈥?p>) and proton conductivity (e.g., 蟽 = 0.16鈥?.20 S cmp>鈥?p> in deionized water at 30 掳C) through B-SPSN were lower than those of the corresponding R-SPSN (e.g., D = (3.5鈥?.9) 脳 10p>鈥?0p> mp>2p> sp>鈥?p> and 蟽 = 0.21 S cmp>鈥?p>) due to the relatively lower water uptake of the B-SPSN after thermal annealing. The reduced water uptake of B-SPSN was beneficial to reduction of peroxide degradation rate. Thermal annealing produced significant gains in morphological ordering and finer control over desired membrane properties for proton conduction applications.