Preparation and characterization of poly(1-vinyl imidazole)-graft-ETFE/phosphoric acid proton conducting membranes

Proton conducting membranes obtained by radiation-induced grafting (rig) of 1-vinylimidazole (1-vim) onto poly(ethylene-co-tetraflouroethene) (etfe) films followed by phosphoric acid (pa) doping was prepared. the effect of grafting parameters on the grafted basic moiety was studied. the level of pa doping was controlled by manipulation of reaction parameters. the obtained membranes were investigated with fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ftir),thermal gravimetric analysis (tga),differential scanning calorimeter (dsc) and dc impedance spectroscopy. the obtained membranes proved to have less-water dependent proton conductivity with a value of 140 ms/cm at 120oc and 17% rh% at acid doping level of of 6.54 mmol/repeat unit. the membranes have potential for application in high temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (pemfc). © 2015 penerbit utm press. all rights reserved.