Why is Nafion membrane used?

Nafion™ Membrane is used to separate the anode and cathode compartment of Proton Exchange Membran.. Please note that Nafion™ XL has been discontinued by Chemours and only limited supplies are avail.. Nafion™ Membrane is used to separate the anode and cathode compartment of Proton Exchange Membran..

What is Nafion membrane where is it used?

Nafion has found use in fuel cells, electrochemical devices, chlor-alkali production, metal-ion recovery, water electrolysis, plating, surface treatment of metals, batteries, sensors, Donnan dialysis cells, drug release, gas drying or humidifaction, and superacid catalysis for the production of fine chemicals.

What is a Nafion membrane?

Nafion™ perfluorosulfonic acid (PFSA) membranes are based on a PFSA/polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) copolymer. Widely used in electrochemical cells, they function as cation-conducting solid electrolytes.

What is Nafion 117 membrane?

Nafion™ Membrane is used to separate the anode and cathode compartment of Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells and water electrolyzers. The thickness of this particular cation exchange membrane, Nafion™ 117 makes it suitable for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC). Nafion™ 117 is 183 micrometers (7.2 mil) thick.

How do you activate the Nafion membrane?

Based on those publication and previous studies, a specific acid treatment was performed in order to activate the membrane and increase the amount of water molecules per sulfonic group [5] Currently, sulfuric acid (H2SO4) with concentration below 1 M is used in standard method for the activation of Nafion [6].

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.

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.

What is Nafion used for?

All Answers (5) Dear Yun Liu , Nafion has different roles or functions when used in fuel cells, it acts as electrolyte or the mean where ions move and also acts as a barrier membrane that keeps the gases supplied to anode and cathode semicells separated, in fact Nafion is a Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM).

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 …

How do you pretreat Nafion membrane?

Pretreatment I’ve learned for Nafion membranes is soaking in 3% hydrogen peroxide for an hour, deionized/distilled water for two hours, and 0.5M sulfuric acid for another hour. All three of these should be at around 80ºC. Rinse membrane between steps in deionized water, as well as after the final treatment.

How do you clean a Nafion membrane?

Nafion membranes may be pretreated, for example 1 hour in boiling 1M H2SO4 and rinsed in pure water, it should remove most of the impurities.

Is Nafion membrane porous?

In practically all applications Nafion membranes are used as dense, non-porous flat sheet membranes with smooth surfaces.

Is Nafion soluble in water?

No differences were found at 20 and 32°C, the two temperatures important to the present study. The solubilities in Nafion™ 117 are as follows: water, 22.0 g/g; methanol, 49.2 g/g; ethanol 45.0 g/g; propanol 48.6 g/g.

Where is Nafion manufactured?

The city of Anting is a key center for the automotive industry in China. The award honors Chemours and the significant contributions of its Nafion™ ion-exchange membranes to the new energy vehicle industry.

How do you make Nafion solution?

Prepare a mixture containing 80-85 mL of ethyl alcohol and 20-15 mL of water. Keep on adding the above mixture solution in 5 wt% Nafion® 117 solution till the total volume of diluted Nafion® 117 solution becomes appxo. 20 times the original volume . It will be 0.25 wt% Nafion solution.

Can water pass through Nafion membrane?

Nafion very readily absorbs water, from the vapor phase or from the liquid phase. Each sulfonic acid group will absorb up to 13 molecules of water. The sulfonic acid groups form ionic channels through the bulk hydrophobic polymer, and water is very readily transported through these channels.

How do Nafion membranes dissolve?

At 80 °C, solvents containing methanol higher than 20 mol% dissolved the Nafion® membrane, and 90 mol% methanol gave the maximum value of the dissolved fraction. Even at 35 °C, solvents containing methanol higher than 60 mol% dissolved the membrane.

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.

What is Nafion made of?

Nafion is a copolymer of tetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) and perfluoro-3,6-dioxa-4-methyl-7-octene-sulfonic acid. Like Teflon, Nafion is highly resistant to chemical attack, but the presence of its exposed sulfonic acid groups confers unusual properties.

What is recast Nafion?

Recast Nafion films have lower wetted density than wetted commercial and fully annealed films. Sufficient heating (140 °C for ≥40 min) yields a recast film with the same wetted density as commercial Nafion films. Fully protonated films have higher density than as-received materials.

Why choose Nafion™ membranes?

For more than 50 years, Nafion™ membranes and dispersions have provided critical applications with unparalleled performance and durability. Today, the Nafion™ portfolio provides leading-edge solutions that create production and process improvements, ensure superior performance standards, and allow manufacturers to pursue new markets.

What is Nafion 212 membrane?

Nafion™ Membrane is used to separate the anode and cathode compartment of Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells and water electrolyzers. The thickness of this particular cation exchange membrane, Nafion™ 212 makes it suitable for many Hydrogen Air/Oxygen Fuel Cell applications.

Nafion™ Membrane is used to separate the anode and cathode compartment of Proton Exchange Membrane fuel cells and water electrolyzers. The thickness of this particular cation exchange membrane, Nafion™ 117 makes it suitable for Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC). Nafion™ 117 is 183 micrometers (7.2 mil) thick.

What are the benefits of Nafion™ PEM?

Download this white paper to learn more about the benefits of using Nafion™ PEM, which offer increased strength, durability, and stability over their lifetime to meet the demands of hydrogen production via water electrolysis. Fill out the form below to download the white paper.