Morphology and Transport Study of Acid-Base Blend Proton Exchange Membranes by Molecular Simulations: Case of Chitosan/Nafion.

ABSTRACT: Blending a basic polymer (e.g., chitosan) with Nafion can modify some membrane properties in direct methanol fuel cell applications, e.g., controlling methanol crossover, by regulating the morphology of hydrophilic channels. Unraveling the mechanisms by which the channel morphology is modified is essential to formulate design strategies for acid-base blend membrane development. Thus, we use molecular simulations to analyze the morphological features of a blend membrane (at 75/25 chitosan/Nafion wt %), i.e., (i) water/polymer phase organizations, (ii) number and size of water clusters, and (iii) quantitative morphological measures of hydrophilic channels, and compare them to the pure Nafion in a wide range of water contents. It is found that the affinity of water to different hydrophilic gr

SUBMITTER: Hemmasi E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10726362 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature