New anion exchanger organic–inorganic hybrid materials and membranes from a copolymerof glycidylmethacrylate and γ‐methacryloxypropyl trimethoxy silane

Organic–inorganic hybrid materials and mem branes were prepared through coating on Teflon plate or dip‐coating on microporous alumina substrates with the solution of glycidylmethacrylate (GMA) and γ‐methacryloxypropyl trimethoxy silane (γ‐MPS) copolymer, followed by ring‐opening of the GMA moiety with trimethylamine hydrochloric and sol–gel reaction of the γ‐MPS moiety. Composition of the GMA and γ‐MPS copolymer was varied by changing the feed ratio of GMA to γ‐MPS during the copolymerization. So the thermal stability, hydrophilicity, electrical properties, etc. of the hybrid materials and membranes were varied. Results showed that as the γ‐MPS amount increased in the copolymer, T_d (the temperature on thermogram at 5% weight loss) value of the hybrid materials and water contact angle of the hybrid membrane generally increased, while the anion exchange capacity, water uptake (W_R) and pure water flux decreased. The charge transition point of the hybrid membranes deduced from their streaming potential behavior decreased from pH > 12 to pH = 7–8 as the γ‐MPS amount increased. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 3580–3589, 2006