What is Nafion membrane used for?
Nafion was found effective as a membrane for proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells by permitting hydrogen ion transport while preventing electron conduction.
What is PFSA membrane?
The perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes are characterized by high mechanical stability, excellent chemical inertness, good thermal stability, and high proton conductivity. These characteristics have made PFSA the material of choice for the automotive PEMFC for many years.
Is Nafion a cation exchange membrane?
Nafion is a widely used cation exchange membrane due to its high specificity toward protons and small cations. However, its weak mechanical strength and high cost make it unsuitable for long-term studies like enrichment.
What is Nafion 117 membrane?
DuPont™ Nafion® 117 membrane is non-reinforced films based on chemically stabilized perfluorosulfonic acid/PTFE copolymer in the acid (H+) form. It is widely used as Ion Exchange Membrane to separate the anode and cathode compartment in Redox Flow Cells and Fuel Cells.
How much does Nafion cost?
To begin with, the cost structure is as follows. The proton exchange membrane is vigorously being developed. While the Nafion (Du pont) has 100 microns thickness and $500/m2 today, the experts says it will be $50/m2 on the production scale 150 thousands of fuel cell cars annually.
Is Nafion toxic?
The perfluorosulfonic acid copolymers used in Nafion® membranes exhibit very low acute toxicity when administered in oral doses to rats. The LD50s are greater than 20,000 mg/kg of body weight. When tested on rabbits, perfluorinated sulfonic acid copolymers used in Nafion® membranes were not irritating to the skin.
What is a proton exchange membrane made of?
ionomers
A proton-exchange membrane, or polymer-electrolyte membrane (PEM), is a semipermeable membrane generally made from ionomers and designed to conduct protons while acting as an electronic insulator and reactant barrier, e.g. to oxygen and hydrogen gas.
What is perfluorosulfonic acid polymer?
Perfluorosulfonic acid polymers (PFSA) and perfluorocarboxylic acid polymers (PFCA) are typical fluorinated functional polymers that have been used to prepare ion exchange membranes, which serve as the barrier membrane to separate the anode and cathode com- partments of electrolytic cells in the production of alkali …
Is Nafion hydrophilic or hydrophobic?
Nafion consists of hydrophilic sulfonic acid groups dispersed in a hydrophobic matrix of tetrafluoroethylene and perfluoroalkyl ethers [18,24,44–53]. The sulfonic acid groups sorb water swelling the hydrophilic network through which water and protons are transported.
What is Nafion which is used in hydrogen fuel cells as proton exchange membrane?
Nafion, developed by the Dupont company, is the one of most commonly used PFSA ionomers for the catalyst layer of MEA. It is based on the long-side chain PFSA ionomers (LSC-PFSA) with five −CF2 groups in pendant side chains.
What is the difference between Nafion 115 and Nafion 117?
Though the composite membrane has a lower conductivity than Nafion membrane, however, owing to the thinner thickness of composite membrane (in thickness of 20±5 µm) than Nafion-115 (in thickness of 125 µm) and Nafion-117 (in thickness of 175 µm) membranes, the composite membrane has a shorter H+ ion transporting …
What is Nafion membrane made of?
Nafion membranes are composed mainly of a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) backbone with side chains containing ether groups and a sulfonic acid unit at its end. Modifications with conducting polymers, such as polyaniline, are studied to reduce the methanol crossover in direct methanol fuel cell applications.