Modification of hydrophilic channels in Nafion membranes by DMBA: Mechanism and effects on proton conductivity

• Published in: Journal of polymer science. Part B, Polymer physics Polymer physics, 2014-08, Vol.52 (16), p.1107-1117
• Main Authors: Wang, Rujie, Yan, Xiaoming, Wu, Xuemei, He, Gaohong, Du, Lin, Hu, Zhengwen, Tan, Ming
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Annealing; Applied sciences; Channels; Diffraction; Electrodes; Energy; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Equipments for energy generation and conversion: thermal, electrical, mechanical energy, etc; Exact sciences and technology; Exchange resins and membranes; Forms of application and semi-finished materials; Fuel cells; Membranes; Molecular dynamics; Phase separation; polyelectrolytes; Polymer industry, paints, wood; proton conductive channels; self-organization; Technology of polymers; Tuning
• ISSN: 0887-6266; 1099-0488
• DOI: 10.1002/polb.23540

ABSTRACT Modification of proton conductive channels (PCCs) in Nafion has been achieved with the assistance of 3, 4‐dimethylbenzaldehyde (DMBA). During annealing, ionic clusters develop from small isolated spheres (1.72 nm) to wide continuous channels (5.15 nm), and the crystallinity of Nafion/DMBA membranes is also improved from 17% to 32% as shown by X‐ray diffraction. Molecular dynamic simulation reveals that hydrogen bonding and hydrophobic interaction between DMBA and Nafion work synergistically to achieve better phase separation. The morphology–property relationship shows that, versus various PCCs width, the corresponding proton conductivities vary greatly from 0.079 to 0.139 S/cm at 80 °C. By carefully tuning the width of PCCs, the proton conductivity shows an improvement of 22–34% as compared with pristine Nafion. A significant enhancement on the maximum power density is achieved for the membrane electrode assembly on Nafion/DMBA‐8h (as high as 1018 mW/cm−2), yielding an enhancement of 39% on pristine Nafion‐8h (730 mW/cm−2). © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2014 52, 1107–1117 Specific interactions between 3, 4‐dimethylbenzaldehyde (DMBA) and Nafion work synergistically to achieve more effective proton conductive channels (PCCs) in Nafion membranes. Such modification brought an evolution of PCCs from 1.72 to 5.15 nm. The results show that that the corresponding proton conductivities vary greatly from 0.079 to 0.139 S/cm at 80 °C as a function of the various PCC widths mentioned above.