Electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked, polysulfide-containing organic polymers and methods for making same

Claim 1

A method for preparing an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer, said method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a solution or suspension of an alkali metal polysulfide of formula M 2 S m in a liquid medium, wherein M is an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium, and m is an integer from 3 to 10; (b) adding to the solution or suspension of step (a) a halogen substituted precursor comprising a non-aromatic carbocycle, wherein said halogen substituted precursor comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of hexachlorocyclopentadiene, octachlorocyclopentadiene, 1,2,3,3,5,5-hexachloro-4-(dichloromethylene)-1-cyclopentene, and 1,2,3,4,5-pentachloro-5-(1,2,3,4,5-pentachlorocyclopenta-2,4-dieniyl)cyclopenta-1,3-diene; (c) stirring and heating said mixture of step (b), thereby reacting said alkali metal polysulfide with said halogen substituted carbocyclic compound to form an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer; and, (d) separating the polymer from the reaction medium.

Claim 2

A method for preparing an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer, said method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a solution or suspension of an alkali metal polysulfide of formula M 2 S m in a liquid medium, wherein M is an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium, and m is an integer from 3 to 10; (b) adding to the solution or suspension of step (a) a halogen substituted precursor comprising a non-aromatic carbocycle, wherein said halogen substituted precursor comprises one or more materials selected from the group consisting of hexachlorocyclopentadiene, octachlorocyclopentadiene, 1,2,3,3,5,5-hexachloro-4-(dichloromethylene)-1-cyclopentene, and 1,2,3,4,5-pentachloro-5-(1,2,3,4,5-pentachlorocyclopenta-2,4-dieniyl)cyclopenta-1,3-diene; (c) stirring and heating said mixture of step (b), thereby reacting said alkali metal polysulfide with said halogen substituted carbocyclic compound to form an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer; and, (d) separating the polymer from the reaction medium.

Claim 7

A method for preparing an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer, which polymer comprises a plurality of non-aromatic carbocyclic repeat units which are covalently linked via polysulfide linkages; each of said carbocyclic repeat units comprising a carbocycle having from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms and from 3 to 22 covalent linkages to adjacent carbocyclic repeat units; and, each of said polysulfide linkages comprising a divalent polysulfide moiety having the formula, —(S m )—, wherein m is an integer from 3 to 10 and is the same or different at each occurrence; the method comprising: (a) providing a solution or suspension of an alkali metal polysulfide of formula M 2 S m in a liquid medium, wherein M is an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium, and m is an integer from 3 to 10; (b) adding to the solution or suspension of step (a) a halogen substituted precursor comprising a non-aromatic carbocycle, wherein said halogens are selected from the group consisting of: chlorine, bromine and iodine, and said carbocycle comprises from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms; (c) stirring and heating said mixture of step (b), thereby reacting said alkali metal polysulfide with said halogen substituted carbocyclic compound to form an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer; and, (d) separating the polymer from the reaction medium.

Claim 8

A method for preparing an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer, which polymer comprises a plurality of non-aromatic carbocyclic repeat units which are covalently linked via polysulfide linkages; each of said carbocyclic repeat units comprising a carbocycle having from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms and from 3 to 22 covalent linkages to adjacent carbocyclic repeat units; and, each of said polysulfide linkages comprising a divalent polysulfide moiety having the formula, —(S m )—, wherein m is an integer from 3 to 10 and is the same or different at each occurrence; the method comprising: (a) providing a solution or suspension of an alkali metal polysulfide of formula M 2 S m in a liquid medium, wherein M is an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium, and m is an integer from 3 to 10; (b) adding to the solution or suspension of step (a) a halogen substituted precursor comprising a non-aromatic carbocycle, wherein said halogens are selected from the group consisting of: chlorine, bromine and iodine, and said carbocycle comprises from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms; (c) stirring and heating said mixture of step (b), thereby reacting said alkali metal polysulfide with said halogen substituted carbocyclic compound to form an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer; and, (d) separating the polymer from the reaction medium.

Claim 9

A method for preparing an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer, which polymer comprises polymeric segments of the formula wherein: Q denotes a non-aromatic carbocyclic repeat unit comprising a carbocycle having from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms; S denotes a sulfur atom; m is the number of sulfur atoms in a given polysulfide linkage, is an integer from 3 to 10 and is the same or different at each occurrence; n denotes the number of crosslinking polysulfide linkages, is an integer from 1 to 20 and is the same or different at each occurrence; and, p is an integer greater than 1; the method comprising: (a) providing a solution or suspension of an alkali metal polysulfide of formula M 2 S m in a liquid medium, wherein M is an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium, and m is an integer from 3 to 10; (b) adding to the solution or suspension of step (a) a halogen substituted precursor comprising a non-aromatic carbocycle, wherein said halogens arc selected from the group consisting of: chlorine, bromine and iodine, and said carbocycle comprises from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms; (c) stirring and heating said mixture of step (b), thereby reacting said alkali metal polysulfide with said halogen substituted carbocyclic compound to form an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer; and, (d) separating the polymer from the reaction medium.

Claim 10

A method for preparing an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer, which polymer comprises polymeric segments of the formula wherein: Q denotes a non-aromatic carbocyclic repeat unit comprising a carbocycle having from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms; S denotes a sulfur atom; m is the number of sulfur atoms in a given polysulfide linkage, is an integer from 3 to 10 and is the same or different at each occurrence; n denotes the number of crosslinking polysulfide linkages, is an integer from 1 to 20 and is the same or different at each occurrence; and, p is an integer greater than 1; the method comprising: (a) providing a solution or suspension of an alkali metal polysulfide of formula M 2 S m in a liquid medium, wherein M is an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium, and m is an integer from 3 to 10; (b) adding to the solution or suspension of step (a) a halogen substituted precursor comprising a non-aromatic carbocycle, wherein said halogens arc selected from the group consisting of: chlorine, bromine and iodine, and said carbocycle comprises from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms; (c) stirring and heating said mixture of step (b), thereby reacting said alkali metal polysulfide with said halogen substituted carbocyclic compound to form an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer; and, (d) separating the polymer from the reaction medium.

Claim 11

A method for preparing an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer, which polymer comprises two or more different non-aromatic carbocyclic repeat units which are covalently linked via polysulfide linkages; each of said carbocyclic repeat units comprising a carbocycle having from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms and from 3 to 20 covalent linkages to adjacent carbocyclic repeat units; and, each of said polysulfide linkages comprising a divalent polysulfide moiety having the formula, —(S m )—, wherein m is an integer from 3 to 10 and is the same or different at each occurrence; the method comprising: (a) providing a solution or suspension of an alkali metal polysulfide of formula M 2 S m in a liquid medium, wherein M is an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium, and m is an integer from 3 to 10; (b) adding to the solution or suspension of step (a) a halogen substituted precursor comprising a non-aromatic carbocycle, wherein said halogens are selected from the group consisting of: chlorine, bromine and iodine, and said carbocycle comprises from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms; (c) stirring and heating said mixture of step (b), thereby reacting said alkali metal polysulfide with said halogen substituted carbocyclic compound to form an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer; and, (d) separating the polymer from the reaction medium.

Claim 12

A method for preparing an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer, which polymer comprises two or more different non-aromatic carbocyclic repeat units which are covalently linked via polysulfide linkages; each of said carbocyclic repeat units comprising a carbocycle having from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms and from 3 to 20 covalent linkages to adjacent carbocyclic repeat units; and, each of said polysulfide linkages comprising a divalent polysulfide moiety having the formula, —(S m )—, wherein m is an integer from 3 to 10 and is the same or different at each occurrence; the method comprising: (a) providing a solution or suspension of an alkali metal polysulfide of formula M 2 S m in a liquid medium, wherein M is an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium, and m is an integer from 3 to 10; (b) adding to the solution or suspension of step (a) a halogen substituted precursor comprising a non-aromatic carbocycle, wherein said halogens are selected from the group consisting of: chlorine, bromine and iodine, and said carbocycle comprises from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms; (c) stirring and heating said mixture of step (b), thereby reacting said alkali metal polysulfide with said halogen substituted carbocyclic compound to form an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer; and, (d) separating the polymer from the reaction medium.

Claim 13

A method for preparing an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer, which polymer comprises non-aromatic carbocyclic repeat units and non-carbocyclic repeat units which are covalently linked via polysulfide linkages; each of said carbocyclic repeat units comprising a carbocycle having from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms and from 3 to 20 covalent linkages to one or more adjacent carbocyclic or non-carbocyclic repeat units; and, each of said polysulfide linkages comprising a divalent polysulfide moiety having the formula —(S m )—, wherein m is an integer from 3 to 10 and is the same or different at each occurrence; the method comprising: (a) providing a solution or suspension of an alkali metal polysulfide of formula M 2 S m in a liquid medium, wherein M is an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium, and m is an integer from 3 to 10; (b) adding to the solution or suspension of step (a) a halogen substituted precursor comprising a non-aromatic carbocycle, wherein said halogens are selected from the group consisting of: chlorine, bromine and iodine, and said carbocycle comprises from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms; (c) stirring and heating said mixture of step (b), thereby reacting said alkali metal polysulfide with said halogen substituted carbocyclic compound to form an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer; and, (d) separating the polymer from the reaction medium.

Claim 14

A method for preparing an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer, which polymer comprises non-aromatic carbocyclic repeat units and non-carbocyclic repeat units which are covalently linked via polysulfide linkages; each of said carbocyclic repeat units comprising a carbocycle having from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms and from 3 to 20 covalent linkages to one or more adjacent carbocyclic or non-carbocyclic repeat units; and, each of said polysulfide linkages comprising a divalent polysulfide moiety having the formula —(S m )—, wherein m is an integer from 3 to 10 and is the same or different at each occurrence; the method comprising: (a) providing a solution or suspension of an alkali metal polysulfide of formula M 2 S m in a liquid medium, wherein M is an alkali metal selected from the group consisting of lithium, sodium, potassium, and cesium, and m is an integer from 3 to 10; (b) adding to the solution or suspension of step (a) a halogen substituted precursor comprising a non-aromatic carbocycle, wherein said halogens are selected from the group consisting of: chlorine, bromine and iodine, and said carbocycle comprises from 3 to 12 ring carbon atoms; (c) stirring and heating said mixture of step (b), thereby reacting said alkali metal polysulfide with said halogen substituted carbocyclic compound to form an electroactive, energy-storing, highly crosslinked organic polymer; and, (d) separating the polymer from the reaction medium.