MODIFICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF SULFONATED POLYSULFONE WITH UV-PHOTOGRAFTING TECHNIQUE

• Main Author: Budiawan, Adi
• Format: Final Project
• Language: Indonesia
• Subjects: Kimia
• Online Access: https://digilib.itb.ac.id/gdl/view/34670
• Institution: Institut Teknologi Bandung

Sulfonated polysulfone-based membrane (SPSF) is one of the polymer membrane material which has very broad application. SPSF membrane can also be used as a membrane in fuel cell such as Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC). The presence of repeated phenyl rings in polysulfone backbones that exist in SPSF contribute to high molecular rigidity and hence, make a strong and stable polymer structure. However, SPSF has a lower conductivity than Nafion®. Based on this problem, a modification of SPSF membrane was performed to enhance its proton conductivity. The modification was performed by UV-photografting technique using acrylic acid (AA). The carboxylic acid group of acrylic acid is expected to overcome the weakness of SPSF. Grafting was done by varying the concentration of AA from 30% v/w to 70% v/w with 10 minutes irradiation time. The resulting graft copolymers (SPSF-g-AA) were characterized by functional group analysis by Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and morphological analysis by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The proton conductivity was measured by Electrochemical Impedance Spectrometry (EIS) and the ion exchange capacity (IEC), water uptake (WU), and the degree of grafting (DG) were also measured. The results showed that the SPSF-g-AA using AA concentration of 40% v/w gave the highest proton conductivity and ion exchange capacity, 2,36.10-2 S/cm and 2.78 mmol/g, respectively. Higher AA concentration resulted in lower WU.