Synthesis and Characterization of Proton Conducting Graft Copolymer Membranes

수소이온 전도성 가지형 공중합체 전해질막 제조 및 분석

The "grafting from" technology to prepare the well-defined microphase-separated structure of polymer using atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) will be introduced in this presentation. Various amphiphilic comb copolymers were synthesized through this approach using poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF), poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (P(VDF-co-CTFE) and poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) as a macroinitiator. Hydrophilic side chains such as poly (styrene sulfonic acid) (PSSA) or poly (sulfopropyl methacrylate) (PSPMA) were grafted from the mains chains using direct initiation of the chlorine atoms. The structure of mass transport channels has been controlled and fixed by crosslinking the hydrophobic domains, which also provides the greater mechanical properties of membranes. Successful synthesis and microphase-separated structure of the polymer were confirmed by $^1H$ NMR, FT-IR spectroscopy and TEM. The grafted/crosslinked membranes exhibited good mechanical properties (400 MPa of Young's modulus) and high thermal stability (up to $300^{\circ}C$), as determined by a universal testing machine (UTM) and TGA, respectively.