Impacts of Organic Sorbates on Ionic Conductivity and Nanostructure of Perfluorinated Sulfonic-Acid Ionomers
2021
This study provides insights into
structure-property relationships of Nafion membranes swollen with organic
sorbates, revealing correlations between sorbate polarity, ionomer domain
structure, and ionic conductivity. Swelling, nanostructure, and ionic
conductivity of Nafion in the presence of short-chain alcohols and alkanes was
studied by infrared spectroscopy, X-ray scattering, and voltammetry. Nafion
equilibrated with alkanes exhibited negligible uptake and nanoswelling, while
alcohols induced nanoscopic- to macroscopic- swelling ratios that increased
with alcohol polarity. In mixed-sorbate environments including organics and
water, alcohols preserved the overall ionomer domain structure but altered the
matrix to enable higher sorbate uptake. Alkanes did not demonstrably alter the
hydrated nanostructure or conductivity. Identifying the impacts of organic
sorbates on structure-property relationships in ionomers such as Nafion is
imperative as membrane-based electrochemical devices find applications in
emerging areas ranging from organic fuel cells to the synthesis of fuels and
chemicals.
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