Abstract Polymeric membranes were developed using a SPEEK (sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)) polymer matrix, containing titanium oxide (TiO2) (incorporated by sol-gel method). SPEEK with different sulfonation degrees (SD): 63% and 50% were used. The influence of sulfonation degree on membrane properties was investigated. The thermal analysis (TGA and DTGA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were carried out to characterize the membranes and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was carried out to evaluate the proton conductivity of the membranes. The proton conductivities in water were of 3.25 to 37.08 mS.cm-1. Experimental data of impedance spectroscopy were analyzed with equivalent circuits using the Zview software, and the results showed that, the best fitted was at 80 °C.

Abstract Low cost UV-Ozone reactor using a high pressure mercury vapor lamp of 80 watts without outer bulb showed good results for treatment of ITO films used as anode electrode in the assembly of P-OLED (polymer-organic light emitting diode) devices. This study revealed 20 minutes as effective treatment time and it was verified also that the effect of UV-Ozone treatment loses its efficiency as the elapsed time increases. It was analyzed with measurements of contact angle using a droplet of PEDOT:PSS polymer. P-OLEDs devices were mounted with architecture: ITO/PEDOT:PSS/PVK/Alq3/Al. The PVK polymer was diluted in organic solvent of 1,2,4-trichlorobenzene with concentrations of: 5, 10, 20 and 30 mg/mL. Results revealed better performance of P-OLED devices for concentration of 5 mg/mL resulting in lower threshold voltage, elevation of electrical current and similar diode curve.

Magnetic composites have a wide range of potential technological applications; however the evaluation of this material for extraction of phenolic compounds has not been sufficiently studied. Due to its high toxicity and solubility the removal of phenolic compounds from the aquatic environments has critical importance. In this work polymeric composites were prepared by anchoring Ni and Co particles on sulfonatedpoly(styrene-co-divinylbenzene) PS-DVB. The PS-DVB beads were synthesized by suspension polymerization and reacted with acetyl sulfate, aiming to obtain sulfonated copolymers. All materials were capable of removing phenol from aqueous solutions. The phenol adsorption kinetics was influenced by the polymer porosity and swelling capacity in water. The composite derivative of the more porous copolymer impregnated with nickel (C1SNi) was the most efficient in phenol removal, with the sorption equilibrium being established more rapidly than for the other composites. The pseudo second-order model was more adequate to describe the phenol adsorption process for the composite C1SNi. The Langmuir model describes successfully the phenol removal by this composite.