Research Theme 1 - Functional Polymer Research

Research Theme - 1

Creation of Anisotropic Conducting Electrolyte Membranes Using an Ion Beam Technique

One of the most promising method for fuel cell electrolyte membranes is "Radiation grafting method" which consists of the following three steps.

1. Electron beam or g-ray radiation to commercially available polymer films.
2. Graft polymerization of styrene and its derivatives onto the irradiated films.
3. Sulfonation of the resulting grafting polymer chains.

This radiation grafting method has the advantages for optimization of synthetic condition because of a variety of the combination of polymer films and grafting monomers and for low cost production owing to a simple process. Furthermore, by combination of radiation induced cross-linking, the mechanical, chemical, and thermal strengths of the electrolyte membranes, which must be required for fuel cell membranes, can be tremendously improved.