Influence of a Microwave Irradiation on the Swelling and Permeation Properties of a Nafion Membrane

Abstract

The effect of a microwave irradiation at 2450 MHz on the swelling and permeation properties of a Nafion membrane in water and methanol media has been studied. The influence of the irradiation power and the exposure time has been analyzed. The results found show that the irradiation hardly affects the membrane liquid uptake, but it affects the expansion properties of the membrane. The hydraulic permeability coefficient of the unmodified and the irradiated membranes has been experimentally determined. Higher hydraulic permeability has been obtained for the irradiated membranes in both water and methanol, but the degree of increment in permeability coefficient with microwave depends on kinds of permeation liquid. The results have been discussed considering the degradation effect occurring on the membrane hydrophobic matrix, which affects to the membrane elastic properties.

Swelling properties of alkali-metal doped polymeric anion-exchange membranes in alcohol media for application in fuel cells

“…It was observed that the expansion was slightly higher in one of the dimensions of the sample, so that some anisotropy in the dimensional change was observed for the heterogeneous membrane PP in pure liquids, decreasing this effect in the case of mixtures. This anisotropy has also been observed with other membranes in the literature [30,33,34], probably due to the orientation of polymer chains toward the drawing direction [34].…”

Chronopotentiometric study of a Nafion membrane in presence of glucose

“…It was observed that the expansion was slightly higher in one of the dimension of the sample, so that some anisotropy of dimensional change was observed, in agreement with results found in the literature [37][38][39], probably due to the orientation of polymer chains toward the drawing direction [38]. Any significant influence of the solution nature in the presented anisotropy was observed.…”

Thermo-osmosis in Membrane Systems: A Review

“…But a large value indicates a potential for application of thermo-osmotic effects [7,54]. For a Nafion 117 membrane, the values of the hydraulic permeability coefficient per unit length of membrane obtained with water and methanol at 25 °C were, respectively, 3.3 × 10 -14 and 3.7 × 10 -14 kg⋅m -1 ⋅s -1 ⋅Pa -1 [60]. Values of 40 and 70 mbar⋅K -1 were computed for the thermo-osmotic pressure for water and methanol, respectively, from eq.…”