Charge-containing polymeric materials have been widely studied for a range of applications. The fundamental relationships between the charge species, charge density, and the microscale morphology of charge-containing polymers are critical for defining the application in which they may be used. In this work, a series of thermoplastic poly(arylene ether sulfone) (PAES) copolymers with controllable sulfobetaine charge contents (0–100 mol%) and high molecular weights (Mw ∼ 65 kDa) were prepared. All the zwitterionic PAESs synthesized showed thermal stability up to 250 °C. DSC and tensile tests showed a decreased T_g and mechanical strength with the incorporation of increasing charge density, which suggests a plasticization effect by the charged group. Electron microscopy and X-ray scattering data confirmed the absence of microphase separation in the ion-containing random copolymer system, which corroborated with the observation of a single T_g for all zwitterionic copolymers studied. Furthermore, the relative hydrophilicity of the samples was evaluated by water uptake measurements, which revealed that the water uptake of the zwitterionic PAESs can reach up to 64% for the 72 mol% zwitterion copolymer while the free-standing film in the wet state still maintains a Young's modulus of 185 MPa. The thermoplastic charge-containing copolymers in this work demonstrated potential for applications such as coatings or water purification membranes, in which balancing hydrophilicity, processibility, and thermomechanical performance are important.

含电荷聚合物材料已被广泛研究用于一系列应用。电荷种类、电荷密度和含电荷聚合物的微尺度形态之间的基本关系对于定义它们的应用至关重要。在这项工作中，制备了一系列具有可控磺基甜菜碱电荷含量 (0–100 mol%) 和高分子量 (Mw ∼ 65 kDa) 的热塑性聚亚芳基醚砜 (PAES) 共聚物。所有合成的两性离子 PAES 都显示出高达 250 °C 的热稳定性。DSC 和拉伸测试显示 T _g降低和机械强度随着电荷密度的增加而增加，这表明带电基团的塑化作用。电子显微镜和 X 射线散射数据证实在含离子无规共聚物系统中不存在微相分离，这与单个_{Tg的观察结果证实}对于所有研究的两性离子共聚物。此外，通过吸水测量评估样品的相对亲水性，结果表明，对于 72 mol% 两性离子共聚物，两性离子 PAES 的吸水率最高可达 64%，而湿态自支撑膜仍保持a 185 MPa 的杨氏模量。这项工作中的热塑性含电荷共聚物展示了涂料或净水膜等应用的潜力，在这些应用中，平衡亲水性、加工性和热机械性能非常重要。