My research goals are to synthesize new zwitterionic perfluorosulfonimide (PFSI) monomer/polymers. They are expected to replace traditionally used perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) polymers as the electrolyte in PEM fuel cells. For the PFSI monomer preparation, we designed a nine-step synthesis route. Thus far, I have successfully completed the synthesis of 4- (2-bromotetrafluoroethoxy)-benzenesulfonyl amide, 4-acetoxybenzenesulfonic acid sodium salt, and 4-chlorosulfonyl phenyl acetate. The coupling reaction of 4-(2-bromotetrafluoroethoxy)- benzenesulfonyl amide with 4-chlorosulfonyl phenyl acetate, was troublesome due to slow reaction kinetics and byproducts. Additionally, I did a methodology study for the homopolymerziation of the perfluoro 3(oxapent-4-ene) sulfonyl fluoride monomer. We compared the weight average molecular weight (Mw) of different reaction conditions. The best Mw was achieved when the polymerization was carried out for five days at 100 °C and150 psi with 2 wt % initiator and 5 g of monomer. All the compounds were characterized by melting point, GC-MS, GPC, FT-IR, and 13C/1H/19F NMR.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ETSU/oai:dc.etsu.edu:etd-5453 |
| Date | 01 August 2021 |
| Creators | Marshall, Josiah |
| Publisher | Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University |
| Source Sets | East Tennessee State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
| Rights | Copyright by the authors. |
Page generated in 0.0018 seconds