Pre-irradiation induced grafting of styrene into crosslinked and non-crosslinked polytetrafluoroethylene films for polymer electrolyte fuel cell applications. II: Characterization of the styrene grafted films

Crosslinked and non-crosslinked polytetrafluoroethylene films (RX-PTFE and V-PTFE films, respectively) were irradiated by γ-ray and then grafted with styrene in liquid phase. Microscope FT-IR spectroscopy, TGA, solid state ¹³C CP/MAS and high resolution HS/MAS NMR spectroscopy, wide-angle X-ray diffraction (WAXD) study were used to get the structural information of the styrene grafted RX-PTFE and V-PTFE films. From microscope FT-IR spectra of the grafted RX-PTFE films, the “grafting front mechanism” was proved. TGA analysis showed that the grafted films have a small degradation step and two main degradation steps. In the ¹³C CP/MAS NMR spectra of the non-grafted films, there are no signal due to the absence of the hydrogen atom. While in the spectra of the grafted films, there are signals attributed to the polystyrene grafts. In the ¹³C HS/MAS NMR spectra of the grafted films, the relative intensity of the peaks attributed to the polystyrene grafts increased while the relative intensity of the peak attributed to PTFE matrix decreased with the increase in the DOG. From WAXD patterns, the intensity of the crystalline peak decrease with the increase in the DOG. The grafted films were sulfonated by chlorosulfonic acid and the results of highest IEC value exceeded 3.0. Those results will be reported in the near future.     

Improving the properties of the proton exchange membranes by introducing α-methylstyrene in the pre-irradiation induced graft polymerization

New proton exchange membranes (PEMs) were prepared by pre-irradiation induced grafting of α-methylstyrene (AMS)/styrene (STY)/divinylbenzene (DVB) into the crosslinked polytetrafluoroethylene (RX-PTFE) films and successively sulfonated. The new PEMs showed the improved glass transition temperature and chemical stability as compared with the PEMs prepared by pre-irradiation induced grafting of STY/DVB. The balance of the cost, grafting kinetic, thermal properties and the properties of the resulted proton exchange membrane is the key point of this work.     

聚全氟乙丙膜电子束引发预辐射接枝AA和SSS制备阳离子交换膜的研究

利用电子束引发预辐射接枝技术,在聚全氟乙丙烯(FEP)薄膜上接枝丙烯酸(AA)和对苯乙烯磺酸钠(SSS),制备一种含羧酸基团和磺酸基团的阳离子交换膜,详细研究了反应温度、单体总浓度、pH值变化、辐照气氛及添加剂对接枝率的影响规律,明确了实验条件与接枝率的对应关系。FTIR测试证明了接枝产物是全氟乙丙烯和丙烯酸、对苯乙烯磺酸钠的接枝共聚物。     

Wettability of carbon fibers modified by acrylic acid and interface properties of carbon fiber/epoxy

The oxidation-reduction and pre-irradiation induced methods were employed to study the effect of acrylic acid modification on the wetting and adsorption ability of carbon fiber (CF) in epoxy solution and the interfacial properties of CF/epoxy. Systematic experimental work was conducted to determine the surface topography, surface energy, surface chemical composition, absorbability and tensile strength of carbon fibers and interfacial adhesion of CF/epoxy before and after modification. The roughness, surface energy, amount of containing-oxygen functional groups and wetting ability were all found to increase significantly after modifications. The tensile strength of carbon fibers was improved marginally by γ-ray pre-irradiation while was decreased little by oxidation-reduction modification. Consequently, the surface modifications of carbon fibers via both oxidation-reduction and pre-irradiation led to an improvement (more than 15%) of the interlaminar shear strength of CF/epoxy composites. The mechanisms of interfacial improvement of modified CF/epoxy composites are proposed.     

Graft copolymerization of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone onto pre-irradiated poly(vinylidene fluoride) powder

Graft copolymerization of N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (NVP) onto ⁶⁰Co γ-ray pre-irradiated poly (vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) powder was investigated to find out the relationship between the degree of grafting (DG) and various factors, including monomer concentration, irradiation dose, reaction time, catalyst and so on. The DG can be calculated by comparing the amount of nitrogen element in the resulting copolymer (PVDF-g-PVP) powder with that in PVP on the basis of element analysis. The presence of PVP in the resulting PVDF powder was confirmed by the comparative studies of pristine PVDF and grafted PVDF powder through Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), thermo gravimetric analyzer (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), respectively. When the reaction was performed at the monomer concentration of 20% (vol.) and the absorbed dose of 40 kGy for 3 h in water, the max. DG of 17.7% was obtained.     

预辐照接枝丙烯酸、苯乙烯磺酸钠对聚全氟乙丙烯膜性能的影响

采用常温下γ射线预辐照引发接枝的方法,在聚全氟乙丙烯(FEP)上接枝了丙烯酸(AA)和对苯乙烯磺酸钠(SSS),制备了一种含羧酸基团和磺酸基团的接枝膜.傅立叶变换红外光谱(FT-IR)分析证明了磺酸基团和羧酸基团的成功引入.采用XRD、TGA和接触角研究了接枝率对FEP膜的结晶度、热学特性及亲水性等性能的影响.结果表明,随着制备的FEP膜接枝率的增加,膜的结晶度、热稳定性和接触角逐渐减小;与此相反,FEP膜的亲水性能随接枝率的增加而增加.接枝膜湿敏性能测定结果表明,在相对湿度从5%RH变化到98%RH时,接枝膜电阻线性变化范围接近3个数量级,具有响应速度快(吸附<1min,解吸<2min),湿滞小(<3%RH)的特点,具有应用于电阻型湿度传感器的广阔前景.     

Pre-irradiation induced grafting of styrene into crosslinked and non-crosslinked polytetrafluoroethylene films for polymer electrolyte fuel cell applications. I: Influence of styrene grafting conditions

Crosslinked and non-crosslinked polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) films [RX-PTFE and V-PTFE films, respectively], were irradiated in air at room temperature using γ-rays from a ⁶⁰Co source. The irradiated films were grafted with styrene in liquid phase. The grafting of styrene into PTFE films was proved by FT-IR spectroscopy. The influence of the reaction temperature and pre-irradiation doses on the resulted degree of grafting was discussed. The grafting speed and the degree of grafting were determined by the reaction temperature and pre-irradiation doses. The apparent activation energies were calculated as 39.7 kJ/mol for RX-PTFE films and 59.5 kJ/mol for V-PTFE films. The dependence index on absorbed doses at pre-irradiation for RX-PTFE films is 0.66, and for V-PTFE films it is 1.57. The geometric size changes of the grafted films were measured and discussed. Interestingly, the thickness of the grafted films was strongly influenced by the reaction temperature. The tensile strength and the elongation at break of the non-grafted and grafted RX-PTFE and V-PTFE films were measured. The grafted films then are sulfonated by chlorosulfonic acid for polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC) applications and the highest IEC value gained is over 3. The analysis of the sulfonated films are now in progress.     

预辐射接枝四氟乙烯-乙烯共聚物湿敏膜的制备及特性研究

利用2 MeV电子加速器, 在常温下采用预辐照引发接枝的方法, 在四氟乙烯-乙烯共聚物(ETFE)上接枝丙烯酸(AA)和对苯乙烯磺酸钠(SSS), 制备了一种含羧酸基团和磺酸基团的接枝膜. 傅里叶变换红外光谱(FTIR)分析结果证明了磺酸基团和羧酸基团的成功引入, 并对接枝膜的热力学和化学特性进行了研究. 结果表明, 随着接枝率的增加, 接枝膜的结晶度逐渐降低, 接触角逐渐减小, 接枝膜的亲水性逐渐增强. 利用制备的接枝膜构建了电阻型湿度传感器, 并测定了传感器的电学特性. 在相对湿度(RH)从5%变化到98%时, 传感器电阻线性变化范围接近4个数量级, 具有响应速度快(吸附<1 min, 解吸<2 min), 湿滞小(<2%RH)的特点.     

Pre-irradiation induced emulsion graft polymerization of acrylonitrile onto polyethylene nonwoven fabric

Acrylonitrile has been widely used in the modification of polymers by graft polymerization. In the present work, pre-irradiation induced emulsion graft polymerization method is used to introduce acrylonitrile onto PE nonwoven fabric instead of the traditional reaction in organic solvents system. The degree of grafting (DG) is measured by gravimetric method and the kinetics of the graft polymerization is studied. The existence of the graft chains is proven by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analysis. Thermal stability of the grafted polymer is measured by Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA).     

Pre-irradiation-induced graft reaction of maleic anhydride onto polypropylene

The radiation induced graft polymerization is a well-known method to obtain new materials. Until recently, only conventional radiation sources, such as Co-60 and electron beams, were used. Moreover, part of the damage induced in polymers by heavy ions can produce active sites (peroxides and hydroperoxides) that are useful to initiate grafting reactions. Maleic anhydride (MAH) was grafted onto polypropylene (PP) wax with a number-average molecular weight (Mn) of 8000 by gamma pre-irradiation technique. Effects of total dose, monomer concentration, reaction time, and temperature on percentage of grafting are studied in detail. It is shown that the optimum conditions for grafting are temperature of 70 ^°C and total dose of 14.4 kGy. PP-g-MAH is characterized by infrared spectrum. Differential scanning calorimetry shows that the compatibility of PP-g-MAH is better than that of PP.