Synthesis and performance of water‐retention PEMs with nafion‐intercalating‐montmorillonite hybrid

Abstract

A proton exchange membrane modified with montmorillonite (MMT) was prepared by introducing perfluorosulfonylfluroride resin into the interlayer of MMT at high temperature and high pressure. The intercalating structure was analyzed by wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD), and the results showed that the polymer was indeed intercalated into the interlayer of the modified montmorillonite (m-MMT) matrix without destroying the microstructure of the matrix by largely increasing the dspacings of m-MMT. SEM analysis on the surface and cross-section of these composite membranes shows that the MMT nanoparticles are dispersed in the membrane uniformly. This composite membrane reveals excellent water retention and conductance at high temperature. The composite membrane was evaluated in a single cell, and the results show that the performance of composite membrane is higher than that of pure Nafion membrane at high temperature especially without external-humidification.

Hybrid Polymer/Clay Nanocomposites: Effect of Clay Size on the Structure of Multilayered Films

“…[17,26,30] In these nanocomposite systems the repetitive unit is well preserved, allowing for determinations of the interlayer spacing by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD). [31][32][33][34][35][36] When a beam of X-rays is incident on a surface under an angle u, a set of diffracted rays is obtained as a result of the diffraction process. If the diffracted rays are perfectly in phase with each other they constructively interfere, giving rise to a unique ray with very large amplitude, A max , (resulted from the summation of the amplitudes of diffracted rays).…”

Toward optimization of a robust low‐cost sulfonated‐polyethersulfone containing layered double hydroxide for PEM fuel cells

“…17,18,[27][28][29][30] It is therefore evident that the chemical and structural nature of the polymer, the chemical affinity and the nature of the interactions between the polymer chains and the material/filler play a crucial role in obtaining a homogeneous composite membrane characterized by a real nanodispersion. 17,18,[27][28][29][30] It is therefore evident that the chemical and structural nature of the polymer, the chemical affinity and the nature of the interactions between the polymer chains and the material/filler play a crucial role in obtaining a homogeneous composite membrane characterized by a real nanodispersion.…”

Effect of Ionic Species on the Structures and Properties of Salt‐Containing PEO/Montmorillonite Nanocomposites

“…Whenever a polymer is associated with various nano‐sized clays, different interlayer spacing values may be obtained, allowing for determination of the repetitive unit by means of XRD 42–47. XRD patterns of the CNA60‐PEO40 films are presented in Figure 4.…”