Development of anion-exchange polymer electrolyte membranes by radiation techniques; Radiation-induced crosslinking and grafting

Yamaki, Tetsuya; Koshikawa, Hiroshi; Asano, Masaharu; Maekawa, Yasunari; Yamamoto, Kazuya*; Sampei, Fumihiro*; Asazawa, Koichiro*; Yamaguchi, Susumu*; Tanaka, Hirohisa*

We prepared new membrane materials by radiation techniques for application in alkaline fuel cells, especially in direct hydrazine fuel cells. Our unique method based on radiation-induced crosslinking and grafting, which previously proved to be an effective way of obtaining high-performance proton exchange membranes, has been used for developing anion-exchange membranes superior to those by the conventional radiation grafting. New attempts here were the -ray crosslinking of the poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) base film and chloromethylstyrene grafting with addition of a chemical crosslinker, divinylbenzene. The crosslinked anion-exchange membranes exhibited high OH conductivity in their fully hydrated state and low water uptake, implying practical usefulness of our method.