✍ Scribed by Ahmet Kusoglu; Anette M. Karlsson; Michael H. Santare
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
Perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) ionomer membranes are ion-conducting polymers with high water sorption capacity and thermo-mechanical stability. The morphology of PFSA changes during sorption affecting the mechanical and physical properties of the membrane. In this work, we investigate the structure-property relationship in swollen PFSA membranes using three proposed nanostructural descriptions and determine Young's modulus of the membrane at a wide range of temperatures (À20-85 C) and water volume fractions (0-0.5) for these configurations. Comparing the mechanics-based models with experimental data we propose that ion-rich water domains in PFSA membrane are spherical at low water content, spherical with connecting channels at intermediate water content and cylindrical at high water contents. Furthermore, our findings indicate that the scaling behavior for Young's modulus of PFSA ionomers is similar to that of aerogels. This suggests, from a mechanics perspective, that aerogels and ionomers may have a similar interconnected porous nanostructure where some solid regions do not contribute to the mechanical load-bearing capacity.
📜 SIMILAR VOLUMES
capacity (IEC), electrical resistance, permselectivity, sorption isotherms and methanol permeability give information on conductive and methanol permeability properties. These methods have been applied on blends of polyethersulfone (PES)/sulfonated polysulfone (SPSf ) and PES/ sulfonated polyetheret
## Abstract The extent of phase separation in Nafion® perfluorosulfonate ionomer membranes has been studied by small‐angle neutron scattering (SANS). These polymers, which consist of a perfluorocarbon main chain and a sulfonate‐containing side group, can absorb up to 30% by weight of water. Previou
Two kinds of aromatic-aliphatic polyamide oligomers were newly prepared by the reactant pairs of 3,4'-oxydianiline-adipic acid and 3,4'-oxydianiline-azelaic acid. These oligomers were then condensed separately with a, o-polybutadienedicarboxylic acid giving two series of polybutadiene-polyamide mult