Polymer chemistry was a popular topic at the American Chemical Society 242nd National Meeting, held in Denver CO USA, 28 August 2011 - 01 September 2011. Here is a review of some interesting work presented on polymer coatings. The ACS Division of Polymer Chemistry (POLY) organized 17 symposia on various aspects of polymer chemistry and included more than 650 presentations. The ACS Division of Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering (PMSE) organized 16 symposia on various aspects of polymer science and engineering and included 300 presentations.
The symposium Polymer Coatings for the Environment, Energy, and Sustainability included "High temperature polymer membranes for fuel cells and sustainable energy devices", where Professor Brian C. Benicewicz presented his work on novel processing of polymer membranes for applications in fuel cells and hydrogen purification. Polybenzimidazole-polyphosphoric acid sol-gel, film casting produced durable materials for polymer electrolyte membranes in portable, stationary, and transportation fuel cells that operate at temperatures up to 200 °C. The same membranes can also be used for the "hydrogen pump" for hydrogen purification.