Development of cation exchange membranes for hydrogen production process

Kodaira, Takahide*; Ikeda, Ayumi*; Matsuyama, Emi*; Kono, Nobuho*; Oura, Kotone*; Sawada, Shinichi; Yamaki, Tetsuya; Nomura, Mikihiro*

There has been a strong motivation to develop new cation exchange membranes suitable for the Bunsen reaction in the thermochemical water splitting IS process. We prepared cation exchange membranes by a radiation grafting polymerization method. The grafting reaction into a poly(ethylene--tetrafluoroethylene) film was performed in a mixture of styrene and divinylbenzene (DVB). The membrane had an ion exchange capacity of 2.17 mmol g while Nafion212 possessed 0.90 mmol g that is less than half of that for the grafted membrane. Both these membranes exhibited a similar water uptake, but the grafted membrane showed lower water permeation than Nafion212.