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US 7,125,935 B2Granted
Ion exchange materials
AssigneeVictrex Manufacturing Limited
InventorsMark Andrews, Richard F. Bridges, Peter Charnock, John N Devine, David J. Kemmish, John E Lockley, Brian Wilson
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A method of preparing an ion-conducting material, for example membrane, having reduced sensitivity to water includes a step of treating an ion-conducting polymeric material (especially a sulphonated polyaryletherketone and/or sulphone) which has at least some crystallinity or which is crystallizable with a means to increase its crystallinity. The ion-conducting material prepared may be used in a Membrane Electrode Assembly of a fuel cell.
Claims17
A method of preparing an ion-conducting material, the method comprising:
- (i) selecting a first ion-conducting polymeric material which has at least some crystallinity or which is crystallisable, wherein said first ion-conducting polymeric material includes a repeat unit which includes aromatic group containing moieties linked by —CO— and/or —Q— groups, wherein Q represents —O— or —S— provided that said repeat unit includes at least some ketone moieties;
- (ii) treating said first ion-conducting polymeric material with a means to increase its crystallinity, thereby to produce a treated ion-conducting polymeric material which is the same first ion-conducting polymeric material as that selected in step (i), except that said material has increased crystallinity.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.