In this paper, we consider a class of impulsive fractional differential equations involving φ-Hilfer fractional derivatives. Since the φ-Hilfer fractional derivative depends on the kernel φ, for a suitable choice of the kernel φ, our results in this paper can be applied to most of the fractional derivatives. First, we give a correspondence in this article between our problem and a Volterra-type integral equation. Then, sufficient conditions are given to ensure the existence of positive solutions and by applying the cone stretch and cone compression immobilization theorem and the Green function to study the existence of positive solutions for the problem. Finally, an example is given to illustrate the viability of the main theories.