Surface initiated RAFT polymerization to synthesize N-heterocyclic block copolymer grafted silica nanofillers for improving PEM properties

Surface functionalization of silica nanoparticles (SiNP) has gained attention as an efficient methodology in improving the properties of the proton exchange membrane (PEM). Here, we report the development of block copolymer grafted SiNP (BC-g-SiNP) as functional nanofiller which was further blended with oxypolybenzimidazole (OPBI) to prepare nanocomposite-based PEM. Block copolymer chains consisting of poly (N-Vinyl imidazole) (pNVI) and poly (N-Vinyl-1,2,4-triazole) (pNVT) were grown on the SiNP surface using grafting-from RAFT polymerization in one pot process. Two series of BC-g-SiNP namely pNVI-b-pNVT-g-SiNP and pNVT-b-pNVI-g-SiNP were synthesized by altering the polymer chain grafting sequence. A series of BC-g-SiNP was developed by varying chain length of each block to understand the effect of the chain sequence and length on the properties of nanofiller and their influence in altering the PEM properties. The block copolymer structure, chain sequence and chain length were confirmed by means of NMR and GPC analysis of the cleaved copolymer chains. The BC-g-SiNP exhibited core-shell morphology and thickness of the shell altered as the chain length and sequence of the grafted chains tuned. Phosphoric acid (PA) loaded OPBI/BC-g-SiNP nanocomposite PEM showed very high thermal, mechanical and chemical stabilities along with the proton conductivity as high as 0.278 S cm-1 at 180 °C in case of OPBI/P6(3%). A very clear-cut dependence of the PEM properties was observed on the architecture of the BC-g-SiNP such as chain length and sequence.