• Polymer(Korea)
• /
• v.33 no.4
• /
• pp.377-383
• /
• 2009

Ionic polymer-metal composite (IPMC) actuator generates bending actuation via ion/water flux to the cathode side under an electric field. Polyelectrolytes in IPMC should possess high water-retention capability, proton conductivity, and Young's modulus. In this study. for endowing IPMCs with these properties, Nafion-alumina composite membranes containing $\alpha$- or $\gamma$-aluminas of $4{\sim}8$ wt% were prepared. Mechanical moduli of Nafion-alumina composite membranes were $7{\sim}3$ MPa higher than that of Nafion, with the slight decrease in proton conductivity. At DC 3 V. the actuation performance of the Nafion-$\alpha$-alumina (8 wt%)-IPMC was superior to that of the typical Nafion-IPMC. exhibiting 2.7 times the displacement with an enhanced blocking force. The enhanced actuation performance with the Nafion-$\alpha$-alumina composite membranes was attributed to the higher proton conductivity, the elevated ion/water flux, and the lower interfacial electric resistance of platinum electrodes and membrane, compared with those containing $\gamma$-alumina.

• The Transactions of the Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers C
• /
• v.52 no.7
• /
• pp.298-304
• /
• 2003

IPMC(Ionic Polymer-Metal Composite) is a highly sensitive actuator that shows a large deformation in presence of low applied voltage. Generally, IPMC can be fabricated by electroless plating of platinum on both sides of a Nafion (perfluorosulfonic acid) film. When a commercial Nafion film is used as a base structure of the IPMC membrane, the micro-pump structure and the IPMC membrane are fabricated separately and then later assembled, which makes the fabrication inefficient. Therefore, fabrication of an IPMC membrane and the micro-pump structure on a single wafer without the need of assembly have been developed. The silicon wafer was partially etched to hold liquid Nafion to be casted and a 60-${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ thick IPMC membrane was realized. IPMC membranes with various size were fabricated by casting and they showed 4-2${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$ displacements from $4mm{\times}4mm$ , $6mm{\times}6mm$, $8mm{\times}8mm$ membranes at the applied voltage ranging from 2Vp-p to 5Vp-p at 0.5Hz. The displacement of the fabricated IPMC membranes is fairly proportional to the membrane area and the applied voltage.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.27 no.1
• /
• pp.53-59
• /
• 2017

In this study, the composite membranes prepared by sulfonated graphene oxide (sGO) and Nafion were developed as proton exchange membranes (PEMs) for polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs). The sGO/Nafion composite membranes were prepared by mixing Nafion solution with the sGO dispersed in a binary solvent system to improve dispersity of sGO. The composite membranes were investigated in terms of ionic conductivity, ion exchange capacity (IEC), FT-IR, TGA and SEM, etc. As a result, the binary solvent system, i.e., ortho-dichlorobenzene (ODB) and N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc), were used to obtain high dispersion of sGO particles in Nafion solution, and the ionic conductivity of the sGO/Nafion composite membrane showed $0.06Scm^{-1}$ similar to other research results at lower water uptake, 11 wt%.

• Transactions of the Korean hydrogen and new energy society
• /
• v.29 no.5
• /
• pp.411-418
• /
• 2018

The polymer electrolyte membranes, CL-SPEEK/Cellulose composite membrane I, II, III with the improved electrochemical and mechanical properties were prepared and characterized. The engineering plastic polyether ether ketone (PEEK) and cellulose were sulfonated and cross-linked. The membranes were prepared by sol-gel casting method with different amount of cross-linking reagent. In conclusion, the composite membranes I, II, III showed improved thermostability, tensile strength and oxidative durability. Proton conductivity of the membranes was also improved and the composite membrane I showed 0.1312 S/cm at $80^{\circ}C$ which was the best of those composite membranes.

• 한국신재생에너지학회:학술대회논문집
• /
• 2009.06a
• /
• pp.282-285
• /
• 2009

This study presents preparation and characterization of composite membranes based on ionic liquids. The ionic liquids act as water in sulfonated membranes. On the behalf of ionic conduction through ionic liquid inside the membranes, non-aqueous membranes showed Arrenhius dependence on temperature with no external humidification. It was implied that hopping mechanism of proton was dominant in the ionic liquid based membranes. In addition, small angle X-ray (SAXS) studies provided the information on morphology of ionic clusters formed by the interaction between sulfonic acid groups of the polymers and ionic liquids. The SAXS spectra showed matrix peaks, ionomer peaks and Prodo's law for Nafion based composite membranes and only matrix peaks for hydrocarbon based ones. However, ionic conductivity and atomic force microscopy (AFM) images showed the clear formation of ionic clusters of the hydrocarbon based composite membranes. It implies for ionic liquid based high temperature membranes that it is important to use sulfonated polymers as solid matrix of ionic liquid which can form clear ionic clusters in SAXS spectra.

• Journal of the Korean Electrochemical Society
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.9-15
• /
• 2011

The composite membranes comprising of sulfonated polymers as matrix and ionic liquids as ion-conducting medium in replacement of water are studied to investigate the effect of annealing of the sulfonated polymers. The polymeric membranes are prepared on recast Nafion containing the ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate ($EMIBF_4$). The composite membranes are characterized by thermogravitational analyses, ion conductivity and small-angle X-ray scattering. The composite membranes annealed at $190^{\circ}C$ for 2 h after the fixed drying step showed better ionic conductivity, but no significant increase in thermal stability. The mean Bragg distance between the ionic clusters, which is reflected in the position of the ionomer peak (small-angle scattering maximum), is larger in the annealed composite membranes containing $EMIBF_4$ than the non-annealed ones. It might have been explained to be due to the different level of ion-clustering ability of the hydrophilic parts (i.e., sulfonic acid groups) in the non- and annealed polymer matrix. In addition, the ionic conductivity of the membranes shows higher for the annealed composite membranes containing $EMIBF_4$. It can be concluded that the annealing of the composite membranes containing ionic liquids due to an increase in ion-clustering ability is able to bring about the enhancement of ionic conductivity suitable for potential use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) at medium temperatures ($150-200^{\circ}C$) in the absence of external humidification.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.25 no.2
• /
• pp.107-114
• /
• 2015

PTMSP-NaA zeolite composite membranes were prepared by adding 0~50 wt% NaA zeolite to PTMSP. The membranes were characterized by FT-IR, $^1H$-NMR, GPC, DSC, TGA, SEM. The permeabilities of $H_2$ and $N_2$ gases through PTMSP-NaA zeolite composite membranes was studied as a function of NaA zeolite contents. According to TGA measurements, when zeolite was inserted into the polymer, weight loss temperature and weight loss wt% of PTMSP-NaA zeolite composite membranes were decreased. Based on SEM observation, NaA zeolite was dispersed in the PTMSP-NaA zeolite composite membrane with the size $2{\sim}5{\mu}m$. The permeability of PTMSP-NaA zeolite composite membranes increased added as NaA zeolite content increased. On the contrary, the selectivity ($H_2/N_2$) of the composite membranes decreased as NaA zeolite content increased. PTMSP-NaA zeolite composite membrane showed better permeability and selectivity ($H_2/N_2$) of $H_2$ and $N_2$ than PTMSP-NaY zeolite composite membrane.

• Proceedings of the Membrane Society of Korea Conference
• /
• 2004.11a
• /
• pp.149-151
• /
• 2004

• Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation
• /
• v.28 no.1
• /
• pp.1-5
• /
• 1998

The effect of synthetic polymer membranes on the permeation rate of dideoxynucleoside-type anti-HIV drugs through hairless rat skin was studied using ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and ethylene/methyl acrylate copolymer (EMA) membranes fabricated by solvent casting method. In vitro skin permeation kinetics study of DDC (2',3'-dideoxythymidine), DDI (2',3'-dideoxyinosine) and AZT (3'-azido-3'-deoxythymidine) across the (membrane/skin) composite was conducted for 24 hours at $37^{\circ}C$ using the Valia-Chien skin permeation system. The results showed that skin permeation rate of each drug across the (skin/membrane) composite was mainly dependent on the property of the membrane. Proper selection of the polymeric membrane which resembles hydrophilicity/lipophilicity of the delivering drug was important in controlling the skin permeation rate.

• Membrane Journal
• /
• v.27 no.3
• /
• pp.284-289
• /
• 2017

In this study, natural clay as a filler was systematically integrated into polysulfone nanofibers to prepare polysulfone/clay composite membranes with mechanical properties. The composite nanofibers were formed by electrospinning of a mixed precursor of polysulfone and clay. The pore size of the composite membranes was adjusted by simply controlling the number of layers of nanofibers. The overall membrane properties were examined by SEM, contact angle, pore characteristics, tensile strength and water flux. In particular, the presence of clay within the nanofibers was confirmed with SEM images and the mechanical property of the composite nanofiber membranes was examined by tensile strength measurements. Thus, the prepared composite membranes were expected to be utilized for water treatment system.