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Perfluorosulfonated ionomers membranes: Melt‐processing and characterization for ion exchange applications
Author(s) -
Tang Weihua,
Zhang Rui,
Liu Beibei,
Yuan Huilin
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
journal of applied polymer science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.575
H-Index - 166
eISSN - 1097-4628
pISSN - 0021-8995
DOI - 10.1002/app.39944
Subject(s) - membrane , crystallinity , materials science , ultimate tensile strength , thermal stability , chemical engineering , ionomer , hydrolysis , nafion , polymer chemistry , polymer , composite material , chemistry , organic chemistry , copolymer , biochemistry , electrode , electrochemistry , engineering
Perflurosulfonated ionomers membranes with different ionic‐exchange capacity were successfully fabricated via melt‐extruding and casting of their –SO 2 F precursors. A systematical investigation of the thermal stability, crystallinity, and rheological properties of the precursors was performed to secure their optimized processing conditions. The tensile properties of acid‐form membranes are found to increase with base‐hydrolysis time, where a tensile strength of 38.2 MPa is readily obtained after 24 h's base‐hydrolysis. The content of –SO 2 F or –SO 3 H containing side‐chains plays an important role in the thermal stability, rheological, and mechanical properties of the precursor or the acid‐form membranes. The strong ionic interactions, attributed to the –SO 3 H groups, lead to decreased crystallinity and tensile strength for different IEC membranes. The acid‐form membranes exhibit good proton conductivity and low methanol crossover in comparison with reference Nafion membrane. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131 , 39944.