Sulfonated hydrocarbon graft architectures for cation exchange membranes

[Display omitted] •A polysulfone-based macroinitiator furnishes bulk ATRP-grafting of styrene.•Graft copolymer system is postsulfonated targeting fuel cell membrane applications.•The degree of grafting and degree of sulfonation impact the thermal stability. A synthetic strategy to hydrocarbon graft architectures prepared from a commercial polysulfone and aimed as ion exchange membrane material is proposed. Polystyrene is grafted from a polysulfone macroinitiator by atom transfer radical polymerization, and subsequently sulfonated with acetyl sulfate to various degrees. Series of grafting densities and graft lengths are prepared, and membranes are solvent cast from DMSO. The membrane properties in aqueous environments are evaluated from their water swelling behavior, and their thermal properties and stability are investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry.