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  • About
  • The Global ETD Search service is a free service for researchers to find electronic theses and dissertations. This service is provided by the Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations.
    Our metadata is collected from universities around the world. If you manage a university/consortium/country archive and want to be added, details can be found on the NDLTD website.
1

Solid-state NMR Studies of Ion Dynamics in Proton-Conducting Polymers and Composites

Ye, Gang 08 1900 (has links)
High resolution solid state 1H NMR is used to investigate proton mobility of Nafion, Sulfonated Polyether Ether Ketones(S-PEEK) and their composites, which provides better understanding of their proton conductivities. Proton exchange between sulfonic acid groups and water was observed in these materials. The proton mobility is dependent on both the temperature and the water content. Variable temperature experiments were used to determine the activation energy for proton transportation which generally increases with decrease in hydration level. The preparation of Nafion/SiO2 composites can cause large difference in proton diffusion coefficients and proton conductivities in dried states. This indicates that the amount of dopants needs to be optimized to minimize the blocking of proton diffusion pathways by dopant particles. Detailed information on the control of surface hydroxyl groups in Nafion/SiO2 is obtained through the combination of 29Si and 1H NMR. Although hydrated Nafion/ZrP composites show reduced proton activation energy, they present lower proton conductivity at 35°C than unmodified Nafion. For composites dried at 160°C, both the conversion of monohydrogen phosphate into pyrophosphate and the protonation of monohydrogen phosphate have been observed, which could be one of reasons for the decreased proton conductivity after rehydration. Under high humidification, a single or multiple sulfonic acid proton environments was observed in S-PEEKs, which explains the small proton conductivity difference between some of S-PEEKs. However, the observed conductivity difference for S-PEEKs cast from different solvents was attributed to distinct mobilities of polymer chains. In the crosslinked S-PEEK, not all the crosslinkers of ethylene glycol are fully crosslinked. Proton exchange between residual sulfonic acid and hydroxyls of the crosslinker was observed, which is the primary reason that the crosslinked S-PEEK, with very low residual degree of sulfonation (13 %), still shows proton conductivity comparable to those of S-PEEKs. / Thesis / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
2

Blending of Proton Conducting Copolymers

Weißbach, Thomas 20 October 2010 (has links) (PDF)
Highly proton conducting polymers for operation in hydrogen/oxygen proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) provide often a poor mechanical strength due to high water contents. To strengthen the conducting polymers, blends with different ratios of partially fluorinated sulfonic acid graft and diblock copolymers with perfluorinated polymers were prepared. To analyze the effect of the different quantities of the compounds, with regard to water sorption and proton conducting properties, membranes were prepared by dissolving the components and drop casting. Partially sulfonated poly([vinylidene difluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene]-g-styrene) (P(VDF-co-CTFE)-g-SPS) was blended with polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), decreasing the ion exchange capacity (IEC). The blended polymers absorbed less water. However, the by AC impedance spectroscopy determined proton conductivity stayed stable or increased slightly. The effective proton mobility remained constant. Partially sulfonated poly([vinylidene difluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene]-b-styrene) (P(VDF-co-HFP)-b-SPS) with two different PS-block lengths were blended with different amounts of poly(vinylidene difluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VDF-co-HFP)). In that case, the polymers absorbed less water and the proton conductivity decreased stepwise by adding more than 20 wt% P(VDF-co-HFP). The results indicate that a blending of P(VDF-co-CTFE)-g-SPS with PVDF inhibits swelling without having an effect on the proton conductivity, though water sorption and IEC are reduced.
3

Blending of Proton Conducting Copolymers

Weißbach, Thomas 08 October 2010 (has links)
Highly proton conducting polymers for operation in hydrogen/oxygen proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) provide often a poor mechanical strength due to high water contents. To strengthen the conducting polymers, blends with different ratios of partially fluorinated sulfonic acid graft and diblock copolymers with perfluorinated polymers were prepared. To analyze the effect of the different quantities of the compounds, with regard to water sorption and proton conducting properties, membranes were prepared by dissolving the components and drop casting. Partially sulfonated poly([vinylidene difluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene]-g-styrene) (P(VDF-co-CTFE)-g-SPS) was blended with polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), decreasing the ion exchange capacity (IEC). The blended polymers absorbed less water. However, the by AC impedance spectroscopy determined proton conductivity stayed stable or increased slightly. The effective proton mobility remained constant. Partially sulfonated poly([vinylidene difluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene]-b-styrene) (P(VDF-co-HFP)-b-SPS) with two different PS-block lengths were blended with different amounts of poly(vinylidene difluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (P(VDF-co-HFP)). In that case, the polymers absorbed less water and the proton conductivity decreased stepwise by adding more than 20 wt% P(VDF-co-HFP). The results indicate that a blending of P(VDF-co-CTFE)-g-SPS with PVDF inhibits swelling without having an effect on the proton conductivity, though water sorption and IEC are reduced.:1 Introduction 2 Literature Review 2.1 Fuel Cells 2.1.1 Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells 2.1.2 Other Types of Fuel Cells 2.2 Proton Conductivity 2.3 Proton Conducting Polymers 2.4 Impedance Spectroscopy 2.5 Polymers 2.6 Blending 2.7 Synthesis 2.7.1 Atom Transfer Radical Polymerization 2.7.2 Emulsion Polymerization 3 Results 3.1 Synthesis 3.1.1 Polyvinylidene Diuoride (PVDF) 3.1.2 Diblock Copolymers P(VDF-co-HFP)-b-SPS and Blends 3.1.3 Graft Copolymer P(VDF-co-HFP)-b-SPS Blends 3.2 Degree of Sulfonation 3.3 Ionomer Content 3.4 Ion Exchange Capacity 3.5 Water Content and Uptake 3.6 Proton Concentration 3.7 Watermolecules per Ionic Group 3.8 Proton Conductivity 3.9 Proton Mobility 4 Discussion & Conclusion 5 Experimental Part 5.1 Synthesis 5.1.1 Synthesis of PVDF 5.1.2 Synthesis of P(VDF-co-HFP)-b-PS 5.1.3 Sulfonation of the Polystyrene Block 5.2 Polymer Characterization 5.3 Membrane Preparation 5.4 Membrane Characterization Bibliography Appendix

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