Polyarylene polymers and ion conducting functionalized polyarylene polymers resulting from pairing bis-diene arylenes and bis-dienophile arylenes via a diels-alder reaction

摘要

The invention discloses a group of novel and functionalized arylene polymers that comprise repeat units from a group consisting of polyarylene, polybenzimidazolene, polybenzimidazole, and poly(arylene-co-cyclohexadiene). The compositions are created via Diels-Alder polymerization and result in a polymer that is chemically and thermally stable. The polyarylene polymers can be used to create improved polymer electrolyte membranes that overcome the limitations of Nafion® membranes for use in fuel cells.