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A novel strategy was developed to prepare a self-blowing poly(β-hydroxythioether) foam at room temperature by S-alkylation of 5-membered bis-cyclic carbonate using multifunctional thiol monomers. Two different thiol compounds, trimethylolpropane tris(3-mercaptopropionate) and pentaerythritol tetrakis(3-mercaptopropanoic acid) were used for the decarboxylative s-alkylation reaction. The thiol compounds simultaneously act as crosslinking agents and generate carbon dioxide during the decarboxylative s-alkylation reaction. This enables foam preparation without an external blowing agent. The use of tetrathiol monomer improves thermal stability, provides flexibility to the foams, and induces an increase in the glass transition temperature (Tg) due to a higher degree of cross-linking. The apparent density of the foams decreases with the increase of the tetrathiol ratio. This novel solvent-free approach paves the way to design sustainable foams with modular properties using accessible components and additives, as well as provides an alternative to non-isocyanate polyurethane foams., The CNRST of Morocco acknowledged for funding this work from Projet Prioritaire (PPR1/2015/73)

Crosslinked proton-exchange membranes were prepared by radiation-induced grafting of styrene into poly(ethylene- alt -tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE) and subsequent sulfonation. The influence of the crosslinker, divinylbenzene (DVB), on various film and membrane properties was investigated in detail. A series of grafted films and membranes were prepared at varying DVB concentrations at a fixed graft level (∼25%) for this purpose. Grafting kinetics and kinetic parameters, including initial polymerization rate ( r po ), radical recombination rate ( γ ) and delay time ( t 0 ) at different DVB concentrations were evaluated. Moreover, resultant grafted films and membranes have been characterized with respect to their dimensional stability, chemical composition, thermal stability, crystallinity and fuel cell relevant properties. The concentration of crosslinker in the initial grafting solution was found to influence crucially the grafting reaction and graft levels. Dimensional increase, considerable especially after sulfonation, can be controlled by the introduction of DVB. Furthermore, the FTIR-ATR measurements exhibited that the grafted films were highly crosslinked within the surface near as compared to the entire bulk region. The influence of DVB on the crystallinity and thermal stability was not significant. On the contrary, the water uptake and proton conductivity of the membranes decreased substantially, while the IEC decreased slightly with increasing DVB concentration.