Low Dispersity and High Conductivity Poly(4-styrenesulfonic acid) Membranes Obtained by Inexpensive Free Radical Polymerization of Sodium 4-styrenesulfonate

Controlled polymerizations are often used to synthesize polymers with low dispersity, which involves expensive initiators, constrained atmospheres, and multi-step purifying processes, especially with water soluble monomers. These drawbacks make the synthesis very expensive and of little industrial value. In this report, an inexpensive free radical polymerization of sodium 4-styrenesulfonate, using benzoyl peroxide as initiator in water/N,N-dimethylformamide solutions, is presented. After polymerization, an easy fiber precipitation method is implemented to extract and purify the polymer, obtaining conversions up to 99%, recoveries up to 98%, and molecular weight dispersities in the range of 1.15–1.85, where the pseudo-controlled behavior is attributed to a thermodynamic limiting molecular weight solubility. Three different methods were used to bring the polymer to its acid form, obtaining Ion Exchange Capacities as high as 4.8 meq/g. Finally, polymeric membranes were prepared and reached conductivities up to 164 mS/cm, which makes them good candidates as proton exchange membranes in fuel cells.