Porous Nafion membranes

Dickson Joseph, Julian Büsselmann, Corinna Harms, Dirk Henkensmeier, Mikkel Juul Larsen, Alexander Dyck, Jong Hyun Jang, Hyoung Juhn Kim, Suk Woo Nam

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

28 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

By varying the amount of porogene (ortho-dichlorobenzene, ODB), and optimization of the dispersion process, two types of solvent cast Nafion membranes with an equivalent weight of 1100 g/mol sulfonic acid can be obtained reproducibly. One type is a dense membrane with a porous layer on one surface. The other membrane type shows a novel structure, consisting of small closed pores throughout the membrane and a single layer of large open pores on one side. In addition, some membranes showed a structural morphology between these two types, a membrane with a dense part and a porous part on top of each other. The latter membrane structure was not fully reproducible yet, but probably could be by carefully adjusting the formulation of the casting solution. Also the effect of the casting temperature on the morphology is shown. Fully porous membranes were characterized for their water permeability, ion conductivity, mechanical properties, their performance in the fuel cell and the hydrogen crossover. While the fully porous membranes are not expected to be part of a real fuel cell, we expect that the new morphologies will inspire applied research, e.g. in which the pores are filled with electrolyte or material or a catalyst is blended into the polymer.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)723-730
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of Membrane Science
Volume520
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016 Dec 15

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Korea-Denmark green technology cooperative research program, by the Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning (No. 2015M1A2A2056554 ), and the KIAT program on Korea-German collaboration ( 2MR4380 ).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Elsevier B.V.

Keywords

  • Morphology
  • Nafion dispersion
  • Porosity
  • Porous Nafion membranes
  • Water transport

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Biochemistry
  • Materials Science(all)
  • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
  • Filtration and Separation

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