Patent ID: 8241770

Claim:
A process for producing a hybrid ion-exchange membrane having functional inorganics and a graft polymer, the process comprising: adding at least one inorganic proton conductor selected from the group consisting of zirconium phosphate (Zr(HPO 4 ) 2 .nH 2 O), phosphotungstic acid hydrate (H 3 PW 12 O 40 .nH 2 O), silicotungstic acid hydrate (H 4 SiW 12 O 40 .nH 2 O), and molybdophosphoric acid hydrate (MoO 3 H 3 PO 4 .nH 2 O) to an ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene copolymer as a thermoplastic polymer in an amount ranging from 1 wt % to 20 wt % of the polymer, mixing the ingredients uniformly, shaping the mixture to form a functional inorganics/polymer membrane, exposing the functional inorganics/polymer membrane to an ionizing radiation for a total dose ranging from 10 kGy to 1 MGy, then bringing the membrane into contact with the oxygen-free polymerizable monomer styrene so that the styrene is grafted to the functional inorganics/polymer membrane to prepare a functional inorganics/graft polymer membrane, and reacting the functional inorganics/graft polymer membrane with chlorosulfonic acid to introduce sulfonic acid groups into the phenyl groups in the graft chains.