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Abstract
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Polymeric materials have always attracted high scientific attention
due to their outstanding performance and high potential applications
in variety fields such as ion exchange membranes, acid catalysis and
separation processes [2]. Cross- linker polymers (CP) are a class of
microporous polymers that are prepared via extensive crosslinking
of linear or lightly cross-linked precursor polymers. They can be
usually obtained by a two- step or one- pot process, starting from
several monomers [1]. The most drastic features of mentioned
network polymers are their extremely high surface area and porosity,
outstanding chemical stability and their desire rigidity. Polystyrenedivinylbenzene (PS-DVB) based sulfonic resins is an appropriate
candidate among so-called polymers especially under the highly
oxidizing environment [6].
In particular, several synthetic routs have been explored to improve
the electrochemical properties of these rigid polymeric resins [5,7].
It has been experimentally supported to shifting the resin
morphology from a compact heterogeneous to a highly swollen
semi-gelled phase. Thus, it is preferred to incorporate the PS-DVB
resins in the presence of a suitable polar organic solvent to swell the
polymer framework and to generate the extensive nanometer size
porosity with a high specific surface area of hundreds per gram of
the polymer [3,4]. Furthermore, this facilitate the locally aligned ion-conducting channels or
functional groups in the polymer complex framework and affects the electrochemical performance
that have been elucidated in terms of ion exchange capacity (IEC), transport number, etc
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