Abstract

Nafion is one of the most widely investigated materials applied in proton exchange membranes. Interestingly, it was found that Nafion could serve as a macroinitiator to induce atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) on its C–F sites. In this study, poly(1-vinylimidazole) was selectively bonded on the side chains of Nafion via the Nafion-initiated ATRP process, which was confirmed by the measurements of 1H/19F nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimeter and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time-of-flight/time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The as-prepared Nafion-co-poly(1-vinylimidazole) (Nafion-PVIm) membranes, with tunable loading amount of imidazole rings, presented greatly enhanced proton conductivity and methanol resistivity due to their well-controlled chemical structures. Especially, chemically bonding PVIm with Nafion chains endowed the Nafion-PVIm membranes with high stability in proton conductivity. For the first time, we revealed the great potentials of the Nafion-initiated ATRP process in developing high-performance proton exchange membranes.

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