Wang Hang, Li Xiangxiang, Li Xiaojie, Feng Xi, Kang Weimin, Xu Xianlin, Zhuang Xupin, Cheng Bowen
State Key Laboratory of Separation Membranes and Membrane Processes, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, China.
College of Textile, Tianjin Polytechnic University, Tianjin 300387, China.
Polymers (Basel). 2018 Sep 19;10(9):1037. doi: 10.3390/polym10091037.
In this work, we reported a novel proton exchange membrane (PEM) with an ion-conducting pathway. The hierarchical nanofiber structure was prepared via in situ self-assembling 1,3:2,4-dibenzylidene-d-sorbitol (DBS) supramolecular fibrils on solution-blown, sulfonated poly (ether sulfone) (SPES) nanofiber, after which the composite PEM was prepared by incorporating hierarchical nanofiber into the chitosan polymer matrix. Then, the effects of incorporating the hierarchical nanofiber structure on the thermal stability, water uptake, dimensional stability, proton conductivity, and methanol permeability of the composite membranes were investigated. The results show that incorporation of hierarchical nanofiber improves the water uptake, proton conductivity, and methanol permeability of the membranes. Furthermore, the composite membrane with 50% hierarchical nanofibers exhibited the highest proton conductivity of 0.115 S cm (80 °C), which was 69.12% higher than the values of pure chitosan membrane. The self-assembly allows us to generate hierarchical nanofiber among the interfiber voids, and this structure can provide potential benefits for the preparation of high-performance PEMs.
在这项工作中，我们报道了一种具有离子传导路径的新型质子交换膜（PEM）。通过在溶液吹塑的磺化聚醚砜（SPES）纳米纤维上原位自组装1,3:2,4 - 二亚苄基 - d - 山梨醇（DBS）超分子原纤维制备了分级纳米纤维结构，之后通过将分级纳米纤维掺入壳聚糖聚合物基质中来制备复合质子交换膜。然后，研究了掺入分级纳米纤维结构对复合膜的热稳定性、吸水率、尺寸稳定性、质子传导率和甲醇渗透率的影响。结果表明，掺入分级纳米纤维提高了膜的吸水率、质子传导率和甲醇渗透率。此外，具有50%分级纳米纤维的复合膜在80°C时表现出最高的质子传导率0.115 S/cm，比纯壳聚糖膜的值高69.12%。这种自组装使我们能够在纤维间空隙中生成分级纳米纤维，并且这种结构可为制备高性能质子交换膜提供潜在益处。
