Perfluorosulfonated ionomer (PFSI) was synthesized and PFSI membranes were prepared via a solution-cast method and annealed at different temperatures from 150 to 230°C. The annealing effect on water content, proton conductivity, and methanol permeability were reported and discussed. X-ray diffraction and small angle X-ray scattering were used to test the structure of the membranes. It was found that annealing increased the proton conductivity of the membranes because heat-treatment helped to free the sulfonic groups that were buried in the polymer segments and form more organized ionic clusters. Water content and methanol permeability of the annealed membranes decreased with increasing annealing temperature. Simultaneously, annealing induced more compact chain packing structure, which eventually affected the transport of the proton and methanol through these ionomer membranes. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008

The morphology of perfluorosulfonic ionomer molecules in N,N-dimethylformamide was investigated at different concentrations. Rheological, dynamic light scattering (DLS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) measurements were performed on the prepared perfluorosulfonic ionomer solutions or films. The ionomer molecules shrank from rodlike granules to spherelike ones at relatively low concentrations, and the spherelike granules aggregated together to form aggregates at higher concentrations, with capillary liquid bridge force as the driving force. As the solvent evaporated slowly at room temperature, the SEM image showed that the film was loosely stacked by granules and that aggregates formed in the solution. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008

Ion exchange resin immobilized Co(II) catalyst with a small amount of soluble CuCl₂/Me₆TREN catalyst was successfully applied to atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) of methyl methacrylate (MMA) in DMF. Using this catalyst, a high conversion of MMA (>90%) was achieved. And poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) with predicted molecular weight and narrow molecular weight distribution (M_w/M_n = 1.09–1.42) was obtained. The immobilized catalyst can be easily separated from the polymerization system by simple centrifugation after polymerization, resulting in the concentration of transition metal residues in polymer product was as low as 10 ppm. Both main catalytic activity and good controllability over the polymerization were retained by the recycled catalyst without any regeneration process. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 1416–1426, 2008