(682c) Molecular Design of High-Performance Ionenes and Ionic Composites for Gas Separation Membranes

We have developed a library of high-performance (HP) ionenes, polymers containing ionic groups within the backbone (as opposed to pendants). The design of these materials merges structural elements typically associated with state-of-the-art gas-separation membranes with high-performance engineering polymers such as polyimides, polyamides, and PEEK. The incorporated functional features are regularly spaced by imidazolium cations paired with fluorinated, delocalized anions (i.e. Tf₂N). These HP-ionenes are thoroughly characterized in order to understand the underlying relationships between HP-ionene structure and properties such as thermal transitions and gas permeability. These membranes show great promise for separation of CO₂ from gas mixtures. Furthermore, the interesting combinations of thermal and mechanical properties have made select HP-ionenes attractive for use as feedstocks for 3D printing.