Physical characterization of suspension-crosslinked polystyrene particles and their sulphonated products: 2. Ionic networks

Strong cationic resins have been prepared from isoporous polystyrene networks in bead form with H₂SO₄ and HSO₃Cl as sulphonating agents. The effect of the reaction time of H₂SO₄ sulphonation on ion exchange capacity has been examined. The polymer-solvent interaction parameter, X, with aqueous electrolyte solutions has been calculated after minimization of electrostatic repulsions. The average molecular weight per crosslinked unit, $\text{M}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>c</mtext>}}$ has been measured after sulphonation and an estimation of formation of sulphone-type crosslinks has been attempted. The average size of the network structure, r_c, has been calculated as a function of the ionic strength of aqueous electrolyte solutions for networks of different molecular weight per crosslinked unit, $\text{M}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{<mtext>c</mtext>}}$. The ion exchange capacity of the prepared resins has been measured.