The aim of this work is to obtain polymer precursors based on styrene copolymers with distinct degrees of sulfonation, as an alternative material for fuel cell membranes. Acetyl sulfate was used to carry out the sulfonation and the performance of the polyelectrolyte was evaluated based on the content of acid polar groups incorporated into the macromolecular chain. Polymeric films were produced by blending the sulfonated styrene-indene copolymer with poly(vinylidene fluoride). The degree of sulfonation of the polymer was strongly affected by the sulfonation reaction parameters, with a direct impact on the ionic exchange capacity and the ionic conductivity of the sulfonated polymers and the membranes obtained from them. The films produced with the blends showed more suitable mechanical properties, although the conductivity of the membranes was still lower than that of commercially available membranes used in fuel cells.

Estudou-se a agregação de surfactantes aniônicos em soluções aquosas diluídas de (hidroxipropil)celulose (HPC) sob moderada força iônica (NaCl 0,1 mol L-1). Empregaram-se os surfactantes colato de sódio (CS), deoxicolato de sódio (DC) e dodecil sulfato de sódio (SDS). Observou-se decréscimo da concentração de agregação crítica (C1) para SDS e DC em comparação à concentração micelar crítica (CMC), enquanto ocorreu aumento para CS, a 298 K. A viscosidade relativa apresentou um máximo para o sistema SDS/HPC, mas permaneceu constante para CS/HPC ou DC/HPC. Houve aumento da temperatura de turbidez para todos os sistemas. Utilizando-se espalhamento de luz dinâmico, verificou-se que, a baixas concentrações de surfactante, o modo rápido da HPC relaciona-se a agregados surfactantes/HPC e cadeias poliméricas curtas; a altas concentrações, a micelas livres. O modo lento relaciona-se a complexos surfactante/HPC ou a "clusters" de HPC. Nos sistemas sais biliares/HPC, o mecanismo de agregação pode ocorrer em duas etapas.

The aggregation of different anionic surfactants in dilute aqueous solutions of (hydroxypropyl)cellulose (HPC) under moderate ionic strength (NaCl 0.1 mol L-1) was studied. The surfactants were sodium cholate (CS), sodium deoxycholate (DC) and sodium dodecylsulphate (SDS). By fluorescence probing, the critical aggregate concentration (C1) decreased for SDS and DC in comparison to the critical micelle concentration (CMC) whereas it increased for CS at 298 K. The relative viscosity reached a maximum for SDS/HPC but remained constant for CS/HPC and DC/HPC. By light scattering, cloud points were verified to increase. By dynamic light scattering, it was concluded that, at low surfactant contents, the fast mode of HPC is related to surfactant/HPC aggregates and shorter HPC chains; at high contents, to free micelles. The slow mode is linked to interchain polymer-surfactant complexes and HPC clusters. For the bile salts/ HPC systems, the mechanism of aggregation may occur in two steps.