Ion-track grafting of vinylbenzyl chloride into poly(ethylene--tetrafluoroethylene) films using different media

Nuryanthi, N.*; Yamaki, Tetsuya; Kitamura, Akane; Koshikawa, Hiroshi; Yoshimura, Kimio; Sawada, Shinichi; Hasegawa, Shin; Asano, Masaharu; Maekawa, Yasunari; Suzuki, Akihiro*; Terai, Takayuki*

The ion-track grafting of a vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC) into a poly(ethylene-co-tetrafluoroethylene) (ETFE) film is necessary for preparing nanostructured hydroxide-ion-conductive electrolyte membranes. A key for success here is to obtain as high graft levels as possible (for higher conductivity) in a smaller number of tracks (for improving the other membrane properties). To this end, therefore, the effect of the medium for the VBC grafting was investigated as part of our continuing effort to optimize the experimental conditions. A 25 m-thick ETFE film was irradiated in a vacuum chamber with 560 MeV Xe at different fluences, and then the grafting was performed by immersing the irradiated films in a 20vol% VBC monomer at 60C. A medium was a mixture of water (HO) and isopropyl alcohol (iPrOH) at different volume ratios. The degree of grafting increased as the HO content became higher, and reached a maximum in pure HO. These results can be explained by considering the well-known Trommsdorff effect, in which poor solubility of the grafted polymer in polar media leads to an increased polymerization rate probably due to a lower termination rate.