Post sulfonation of bisphenol A poly(arylene ethers)

In this study, bisphenol A polyetherimide (PEI) was sulfonated by a novel postsulfonation route using trimethylsilylchlorosulfonate. Different degrees of sulfonation were achieved by varying the mole ratio of the sulfonating agent to the PEI repeat unit and the reaction time. Comparison was made with respect to bisphenol A polysulfone (PSU) to study the influence of electron withdrawing group in the sulfonated poly(arylene ethers) (SPAE) backbone on sulfonation. Structural characterization of SPAE was conducted by ¹H-NMR and FTIR spectroscopy. The enhanced reaction rate with PSU compared to PEI was attributed to the deactivation of bisphenol A unit due to the stronger electron withdrawing effect of imide group. The sulfonation of PEI was also carried out with chlorosulfonic acid for comparative study. The effects of degree of sulfonation on thermal and mechanical properties of SPAE-s were studied by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and a tensile testing machine.