Preparation and properties of nanofibrous Nafion mats for ionic polymer metal composites

Akle, B.; Nah, C.; Lee, Y.-S.; Cho, B. H.; Yu, H. C.; Leo, D. J.

Preparation and properties of nanofibrous Nafion mats for ionic polymer metal composites

Akle, B.; Nah, C.; Lee, Y.-S.; Cho, B. H.; Yu, H. C.; Leo, D. J.

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10725/4644

URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0266353807003879

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.compscitech.2007.10.021

Date: 2016-10-20

Terms of Use: This item is made available under the terms and conditions applicable to " Article ", as set forth at: http://libraries.lau.edu.lb/research/laur/terms-of-use/articles.php

Abstract:

One of the disadvantages of ionic liquids-saturated ionomeric polymer transducers has been known to be their slower speeds of actuation. In this study, a novel membrane structure of nanofibrous mats-based on a copolymer of polytetrafluoroethylene and fluorinated vinyl ether sulfonate (Nafion™) was proposed. The Nafion™ nanofibrous mats were prepared using the electro-spinning process, and their morphology, ionic conductivity and actuating behavior were compared with the conventional film type of Nafion™ membranes. Although the fibers mats did not show any advantages in terms of ionic conductivity for water-hydrated condition, for the ionic liquids-saturated condition they showed about three folds improvements in ionic conductivity compared with that of conventional film type of membranes having a similar thickness dimension. Also the fabricated fibers mats-based transducers showed higher strain speed of 1.34%/s, which is 52% faster than the films-based actuators.

Citation:

Nah, C., Lee, Y. S., Cho, B. H., Yu, H. C., Akle, B., & Leo, D. J. (2008). Preparation and properties of nanofibrous Nafion mats for ionic polymer metal composites. Composites Science and Technology, 68(14), 2960-2964.