Alkaline anion exchange membranes (AAEM) are fabricated using polyethylene as the base polymer offering a low cost AAEM. This study focuses on the synthesis and characterisation of AAEM with controlled degree of grafting (DOG) and ion-exchange capacity (IEC) with the following parameters investigated: LDPE film thickness 30-130 mu m, gamma radiation dose and monomer concentration. The corresponding IEC, water uptake (WU) and degree of swelling (DS) are reported. The performance of 74.6% DOG membrane in a hydrogen fuel cell shows high OCV of 1.06 V with peak power density of 608 mW cm(-2) at 50 degrees C under oxygen. The use of membrane with high DOG does not impact fuel cross-over significantly and provides improved fuel cell performance due to better conductivity, water transport and resilience to dehydration. The AAEM shows long term stability at 80 degrees C exhibiting a conductivity of ca. 0.11 S cm(-1) over a period of 7 months under nitrogen. The membrane shows a degradation rate of 4 and 17 mS month(-1) under nitrogen and oxygen, respectively. The estimated life time of the membrane is 2 years under nitrogen and 5.5 months under oxygen operating at 80 degrees C. Copyright (C) 2015, The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of Hydrogen Energy Publications, LLC.