State of Water in Perfluorosulfonic Ionomer (Nafion 117) Proton Exchange Membranes Zijie Lu,* Georgios Polizos, Digby D. Macdonald,** and E. Manias Polymer Nanostructures Laboratory, Center for the Study of Polymeric Systems, and Center for Electrochemical Science and Technology, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802,...

Time-resolved EPR spectra of UV-irradiated Nafion reveal the formation of spin-polarized excited triplet states and allow the detection of photoinduced triplet-triplet energy transfer processes through hydrogen bonds between water and sulfonic acid groups.

We report the fabrication and characterization of a novel composite material based on single walled carbon nanotubes (SWNT)s and the ionomeric polymer Nafion. SWNTs were airbrushed from a chloroform suspension onto both sides of a Nafion membrane (180 μm) and the electromechanical properties of the composite material were explored. The outer layers of carbon nanotubes acted as electrodes in ord...

The high methanol crossover and high cost of Nafion® membrane are the major challenges for direct methanol fuel cell application. With the aim of solving these problems, a non-Nafion polymer electrolyte membrane with low methanol permeability and high proton conductivity based on the sodium alginate (SA) polymer as the matrix and sulfonated graphene oxide (SGO) as an inorganic filler (0.02-0.2 ...

The thermal decomposition of Nafion N117 membrane, a typical perfluorosulfonic acid membrane that is widely used in various chemical technologies, was investigated in this study. Structural identification of thermolysis products in water and methanol was performed using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI-MS/MS). The fluoride release was studied using ...

Electrochemical glucose enzyme biosensors have been prepared on carbon film electrodes made from carbon film electrical resistors. Evaluation and characterisation of these electrodes in phosphate buffer saline solution has been carried out with and without pretreatment by cycling in perchloric acid or at fixed applied potential. Both pretreatments led to a reduction in the carbon surface oxidat...

Tensile stress–strain and stress relaxation properties of 1100 equivalent weight Nafion have been measured from 23 to 120 C at 0–100% relative humidity. At room temperature, the elastic modulus of Nafion decreases with water activity. At 90 C, the elastic modulus goes through a maximum at a water activity of 0.3. At temperatures 90 C, hydrated membranes are stiffer than dry membranes. Stressrel...

A highly ordered mesoporous Nafion membrane with a remarkable water retention ability was synthesized via a micelle templating method with self-assembled Pluronic F108 surfactants and its capability to operate under completely dry gas streams is demonstrated.