Morphological studies and ionic transport properties of partially sulfonated diblock copolymers

The morphological behavior of partially sulfonated polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-alt-propylene) (PS-PEP) membranes cast from tetrahydrofuran (THF) solutions were investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). The uptakes of methanol and water increase as the sulfonation degree increases, the methanol uptake being overwhelmingly greater than the water uptake. The conductivity increases almost exponentially with increasing sulfonation degree of polystyrene units. Clusters of sulfonated units that are formed in the solution used for casting membranes persist in the solid state after evaporation. In contact with water, swelling of the membranes proceeds predominantly in these clusters. The original lamellar morphology of the diblock copolymer is progressively deformed with increasing degree of sulfonation by the presence of the clusters containing ion-rich sequences of sulfonated polystyrene blocks.