Synthesis and properties of a spirobisfluorene-based Polymer of Intrinsic Microporosity (SBF-PIM)

PIMs are a class of ultra-permeable polymer that are attracting attention for membrane applications [1]. Various organic components are compatible with providing the rigid and contorted macromolecular structures that are required for the generation of intrinsic microporosity. Here we describe the synthesis and properties of a PIM based upon the spirobisfluorene unit (Fig. 1). This polymer is of interest due to its structural similarity to the much studied PIM-1, however, the additional rigidity of the spirobisfluorene unit and the lack of methyl groups with conformational freedom as compared to spirobisindane are attractive features. Gas permeability of SBF-PIM will be presented and compared with that of PIM-1. Figure 1. The structure of PIM-1 and the novel spirobisfluorene-based PIM. Acknowledgements We thank the EPSRC and the EU FP7 programme DoubleNanoMem (NMP3-SL-2009-228631) for funding and the members of the DoubleNanoMem consortium for measurements of the properties of PIMs. References [1]N.B. McKeown and P.M. Budd, Exploitation of intrinsic microporosity in polymer-based materials, Macromolecules 43 (2010) 5163-5176.