High sulfur content copolymers and composite materials and electrochemical cells and optical elements using them

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9306218-B2
Application number	US-201214237659-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 13, 2012
Priority date	Aug 11, 2011
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

The present invention relates generally to high sulfur content polymeric materials and composites, methods for making them, and devices using them such as electrochemical cells and optical elements. In one aspect, a polymeric composition comprising a copolymer of sulfur, at a level in the range of at least about 50 wt % of the copolymer, and one or more monomers each selected from the group consisting of ethylenically unsaturated monomers, epoxide monomers, and thiirane monomers, at a level in the range of about 0.1 wt % to about 50 wt % of the copolymer.

First claim

We claim:

1. A polymeric composition comprising a copolymer of sulfur, at a level in the range of at least about 50 wt % of the copolymer, and one or more monomers of diisopropenylbenzene, at a level in the range of about 0.1 wt % to about 50 wt % of the copolymer.

2. The polymeric composition according to claim 1 , wherein the one or more monomers are a combination of one or more monomers of diisopropenylbenzene and one or more epoxide monomers.

3. The polymeric composition of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer comprises the sulfur at a level in the range of about 50 to about 99.9 wt % of the copolymer, and the one or more monomers at a level in the range of about 0.1 wt % to about 50 wt % of the copolymer.

4. The polymeric composition of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer comprises the sulfur at a level in the range of about 50 to about 99 wt % of the copolymer, and the one or more monomers at a level in the range of about 1 wt % to about 50 wt % of the copolymer.

5. The polymeric composition of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer comprises the sulfur at a level in the range of about 50 to about 97.5 wt % of the copolymer, and the one or more monomers at a level in the range of about 2.5 wt % to about 50 wt % of the copolymer.

6. The polymeric composition of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer comprises the sulfur at a level in the range of about 50 to about 95 wt % of the copolymer, and the one or more monomers at a level in the range of about 5 wt % to about 50 wt % of the copolymer.

7. The polymeric composition of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer comprises the sulfur at a level of at least about 60 wt % of the copolymer.

8. The polymeric composition of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer comprises the sulfur at a level of at least about 70 wt % of the copolymer.

9. The polymeric composition of claim 1 , wherein the copolymer comprises the sulfur at a level in the range of about 70 to about 92 wt % of the copolymer.

10. The polymeric composition according to claim 9 , wherein the copolymer comprises the one or more monomers at a level in the range of about 8 wt % to about 30 wt % of the copolymer.

11. The polymeric composition of claim 1 , wherein the one or more monomers further includes at least one polyfunctional monomer.

12. The polymeric composition of claim 11 , wherein the at least one polyfunctional monomer includes one or more of a polyvinyl monomer, a polyisopropenyl monomer, a polyacryl monomer, a polymethacryl monomer, a polyunsaturated hydrocarbon monomer, a polyepoxide monomer, or a polythiirane monomer.

13. The polymeric composition of claim 11 , wherein the at least one polyfunctional monomer includes one or more of a divinylbenzene, an alkylene di(meth)acrylate, a bisphenol A di(meth)acrylate, a terpene, a carotene, a divinyl (hetero)aromatic compound and a diisopropenyl (hetero)aromatic compound.

14. The polymeric composition according to claim 1 , wherein the copolymer further comprises a nucleophilic viscosity modifier at a level up to about 10 wt % of the copolymer.

15. The polymeric composition according to claim 1 , wherein the copolymer comprises
sulfur, at a level of about 50 to about 98 wt % of the copolymer,
further includes one or more polyfunctional monomers, at a level of about 2 to about 50 wt % of the copolymer and
optionally one or more monofunctional monomers, at a level up to about 10 wt % of the copolymer,

wherein the sulfur, the one or more polyfunctional monomers and the optional one or more monofunctional monomers are present at a level of at least about 70 wt % of the copolymer.

16. The polymeric composition according to claim 15 , wherein the sulfur, the one or more polyfunctional monomers and the optional one or more monofunctional monomers are present at a level of at least about 85 wt % of the copolymer.

17. The polymeric composition according to claim 1 , wherein the copolymer comprises
sulfur, at a level in the range of about 70 to about 92 wt % of the copolymer;
further includes one or more polyfunctional monomers selected from the group consisting of a divinylbenzene, and an alkylene di(meth)acrylate, at a level in the range of about 8 to about 30 wt % of the copolymer;
optionally one or more monofunctional monomers, at a level up to about 1.5 wt % of the sulfur; and
optionally triphenylphosphine, at a level up to about 20 wt % of the sulfur.

18. The polymeric composition according to claim 1 , in the form of a polymeric composite comprising the copolymer and an elemental carbon material dispersed in the copolymer at a level in the range of up to about 50 wt % of the composition.

19. The polymeric composition according to claim 18 , wherein the polymeric composition includes the copolymer, pyrene at a level in the range of about 10 to about 45 wt % of the sulfur of the copolymer, and the elemental carbon material at a level up to about 40 wt % of the sulfur of the copolymer.

20. The polymeric composition according to claim 1 , in the form of a polymeric composite comprising the copolymer and inorganic nanoparticles dispersed in the copolymer.

21. A method for making a polymeric composition according to claim 1 , the method comprising heating a mixture comprising sulfur and one or more monomers of diisopropenyl benzene at a temperature in the range of about 120° C. to about 230° C.

22. The method according to claim 21 , wherein the mixture comprising sulfur and one or more monomers is formed by first heating a mixture comprising sulfur to form a molten sulfur, then adding one or more monomers of diisopropenyl benzene to the molten sulfur.

23. The method according to claim 22 , wherein the molten sulfur is formed by heating a mixture comprising sulfur and a monofunctional monomer, a nucleophilic viscosity modifier, or a combination thereof.

24. The method according to claim 21 , wherein the molten sulfur is formed by heating a mixture comprising sulfur and an elemental carbon material.

25. A method of making an article formed from the polymeric composition of claim 1 , the method comprising
heating a mixture comprising sulfur and one or more monomers of diisopropenyl benzene at a temperature in the range of about 160° C. to about 230° C. to form a prepolymer;
forming the prepolymer into the shape of the article, to yield a formed prepolymer shape; and
further heating the formed prepolymer shape to yield the article.

26. The method according to claim 25 , wherein the prepolymer is provided as a mixture with a solvent for forming.

27. The method according to claim 25 , wherein the prepolymer is coated and cured as a thin film on a substrate.

28. The method according to claim 25 , wherein the prepolymer is shaped and cured using a mold.

29. A method of forming an article formed from the polymeric composition of claim 1 , the method comprising admixing the polymeric composition in a nonpolar organic solvent, forming the admixed polymeric composition into the shape of the article; and removing the solvent from the polymeric composition to yield the article.

30. An oil-in-water emulsion comprising the polymeric composition according to claim 1 as the colloidal phase suspended in aqueous solution with a surfactant.

31. An optical element comprising the polymeric composition of claim 1 formed as a substantially optically transparent body.

32.

Assignees

• Pyun Dong-Chul
• Griebel Jared J
• Chung Woo Jin
• Glass Richard
• Norwood Robert A
• Himmelhuber Roland
• Simmonds Adam G
• Univ Arizona State

Inventors

• Pyun Dong-Chul
• Griebel Jared J
• Chung Woo Jin
• Glass Richard
• Norwood Robert A
• Himmelhuber Roland
• Simmonds Adam G

Classifications

• H01M4/604

  containing aliphatic main chain polymers · CPC title

• H01M4/0404

  by coating on electrode collectors · CPC title

• H01M4/602 Primary

  Polymers · CPC title

• H01M4/382 Primary

  Lithium (H01M4/405 takes precedence) · CPC title

• H01M10/052

  Li-accumulators · CPC title