Preparation of the proton exchange membranes by radiation induced grafting into crosslinked PTFE membranes for PEFC applications

摘要

Radiation induced grafting of functional monomers into fluoropolymer membranes wasdesired to synthesize the high performance and low cost proton exchange membrane for fuelcell applications. Recently our group has developed crosslinked polytetrafluoroethylene(RX-PTFE) membranes with thickness from 5 to 30 μm. The RX-PTFE membranes withdifferent crosslinking doses were used for co-grafting of styrene and divinylbenzene(DVB)and then sulfonated. The co-grafting of styrene/DVB into RX-PTFE membranes wasperformed in liquid phase in the absence of oxygen. The grafted RX-PTFE membranes werethen sulfonated by chlorosulfonic acid in carbon tetrachloride. The IEC values of thesulfonated membranes were measured.