Anion exchange membranes were synthesized from different compositions of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) and vinylbenzyl chloride (VBC), with constant content of divinyl benzene (DVB) by radical polymerization using benzoyl peroxide (BPO) on non-woven polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrate. Polymerized membranes were then quaternized by soaking in trimethylamine (TMA), triethylamine (TEA), tripropylamine (TPA), and 1,4-diazabicyclo [2.2.2] octane (DABCO). Characteristics of membranes were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, water uptake, ion exchange capacity, ion conductivity, thermal, and alkaline stability. The results revealed that membranes quaternized by TPA and DABCO showed high affinity when GMA content was 15 wt% and 75 wt%, respectively. IEC and ion conductivity of membranes quaternized by TPA were 1.34 meq·g⁻¹ and 0.022 S·cm⁻¹ (at 60 °C), respectively. IEC and ion conductivity of membranes were quaternized by DABCO were 1.34 meq·g⁻¹ and 0.021 S·cm⁻¹ (at 60 °C), respectively. The results indicate that the membrane containing GMA 15 wt% quaternized by TPA showed the highest thermal stability among membranes and exhibited high ion conductivity compared to existing researches using GMA, VBC, and DVB monomers.

Polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) ultrafiltration (UF) membrane combined with polyvinylidene fluoride-graft-2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (PVDF-g-PHEA) was fabricated via non-solvent induced phase separation (NIPS). In this study, PVDF-g-PHEA was synthesized via atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) method, and then synthesized graft copolymer was characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and thermogravimetry analysis (TGA). Moreover, PVDF membranes containing graft copolymer (PVDF-g-PHEA) showed lower water contact angle value than pristine PVDF membranes. Macrovoid holes were also observed in cross sectional scanning electron microscope (SEM) image of PVDF membrane containing PVDF-g-PHEA. Accordingly, it was confirmed that these characteristics led PVDF membrane blended with graft copolymer has high final permeate flux and normalized flux compared to pristine PVDF membrane.