Comparative study on the preparation and properties of radiation-grafted polymer electrolyte membranes based on fluoropolymer films

Chen, J.; Septiani, U.*; Asano, Masaharu; Maekawa, Yasunari; Kubota, Hitoshi*; Yoshida, Masaru

In this study, ETFE and PVDF films, together with the crosslinked PTFE (cPTFE) films have been compared on the basis of their preparation and properties of radiation-grafted polymer electrolyte membranes (PEM). The proton conductivity and chemical stability of the three types of membranes with the similar ion exchange capacity near 1.0 mmolg were investigated and discussed in detail. Although the ETFE-based PEM was relatively more stable, its proton conductivity was lower than those of the PVDF- and cPTFE-based membranes. On the other hand, the cPTFE-based membrane showed the significantly higher proton conductivity, but its chemical stability was shorter than that of the ETFE-based membrane. The difference in the preparation and properties of the PEMs was due to the difference in the crystallinity and intrinsic properties of the base films.