SYNTHESIS AND CHARACTERIZATION OF AROMATIC POLY(ETHER SULFONE)S CONTAINING PENDANT SODIUM-SULFONATE GROUPS

Poly (ether sulfone) s containing pendant sodium sulfonate groups were prepared by the aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction of 4,4'-dichlorodiphenylsulfone (1) and sodium 5,5'-sulfonylbis (2-chlorobenzenesulfonate) (2) with bisphenols (3) in the presence of potassium carbonate in NN-dimethylacetamide. A new monomer 2 containing the sodium sulfonate groups was synthesized by the sulfonation of 1 with fuming sulfuric acid. The polycondensation proceeded smoothly at 170-degrees-C and produced the desired poly (ether sulfone) s containing the sodium sulfonate with inherent viscosities up to 1.2 dL/g. The polymers were quite soluble in strong acid, dipolar aprotic solvents, m-cresol, and dichloromethane. The thermogravimetry of the polymers showed excellent thermal stability, indicating that 10% weight losses of the polymers were observed in the range above 460-degrees-C in nitrogen atmosphere. Both the glass transition temperatures and hydrophilicity of the polymers increased with increasing their concentrations of sodium sulfonate groups.