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Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Storage pp 85–113Cite as

Mechanical and Transport Properties of Nafion: Effects of Temperature and Water Activity

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Part of the book series: Structure and Bonding ((STRUCTURE,volume 141))

Abstract

Recent studies have shown that water absorption changes the mechanical and transport properties of Nafion by orders of magnitude. The unusually large changes in properties are indicative of microstructural changes induced by water absorption. The experimental findings of changes in proton conduction, water transport, elastic modulus, and stress relaxation are highlighted and explained by microphase segregation of hydrophilic domains resulting from water absorption. Water absorption is proposed to cause clustering of hydrophilic sulfonic acid groups and water within a hydrophobic polytetrafluoroethylene matrix. The hydrophilic domains form a network that facilitates transport and create physical cross-links that stiffen Nafion. At high temperature and low water activity, the entropy of de-mixing breaks the clusters apart, causing a large drop in elastic modulus of the polymer and a large decrease in the rates of water and proton transport.

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Acknowledgment

The authors thank the National Science Foundation (CBET–0754715 and DMR-0213707 through the Materials Research and Science Engineering Center at Princeton) for support of this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

    Jay Benziger, Andrew Bocarsly, May Jean Cheah, Paul Majsztrik, Barclay Satterfield & Qiao Zhao

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  1. Jay Benziger
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  2. Andrew Bocarsly
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  3. May Jean Cheah
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Correspondence to Jay Benziger .

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  1. , Frick Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, 08544, New Jersey, USA

    Andrew Bocarsly

  2. St. Edmund Hall, Oxford, OX1 4AR, United Kingdom

    David Michael P. Mingos

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Benziger, J., Bocarsly, A., Cheah, M.J., Majsztrik, P., Satterfield, B., Zhao, Q. (2011). Mechanical and Transport Properties of Nafion: Effects of Temperature and Water Activity. In: Bocarsly, A., Mingos, D. (eds) Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Storage. Structure and Bonding, vol 141. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/430_2011_41

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